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THE    COMING    CHINA 


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THE  COMING  CHINA 


BY 


JOSEPH   KING    GOODRICH 

Sometime  Professor  in  the  Imperial 
Government  College,  Kyoto 


WITH   32    ILLUSTRATIONS    FROM 
PHOTOGRAPHS 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &   CO. 

1911 


Copyright,  igii 
By  The  Plimpton  Press 


Published  October,  191 1 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London,  England 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


THE- PLIMPTON  •PRESS 

[WD-O] 
NOaWOOD  'MASS-  U  -S-A 


CTBRARY 

|lNl>'ERSJ'i  V  (>!■  CAi.H'ORNIA 
SAMA  JiARBAUA 


TO   THE  MEMORY   OF 

LIU  HSIU-TSAI 

MY   TEACHER,  WHO   FIRST  INTRODUCED 

ME    TO    THE   HISTORY    OF   HIS 

COUNTRY 


INTRODUCTION 

BEFORE  really  beginning  to  write  about  what  that  great 
nation,  China,  may  do  and  probably  will  do  when  once 
the  leaven  which  is  now  working  shall  have  brought  about 
an  activity  along  Hnes  of  development  that  we  of  the  West, 
and  —  to  speak  with  what  may  be  rather  displeasing  frank- 
ness —  we  of  America  especially,  are  disposed  to  look  upon 
as  a  trait  of  character  sharply  differentiating  us  from  the 
continental  Asiatic,  it  is  only  honest  to  mention  some  im- 
pressions that  were  made  forty-five  years  ago,  when  as  a  lad 
I  first  went  to  China  to  live  in  one  of  the  smallest,  most  con- 
servative of  the  treaty-ports,  Swatow,  up  the  coast  about 
two  hundred  miles  or  so  from  Hongkong.  The  long  journey 
from  New  York  to  Hongkong  was  far  more  picturesquely 
made  at  that  time  than  it  is  now,  if  it  was  not  so  quickly  done. 
To  go  by  way  of  Europe,  the  Mediterranean,  the  Red  Sea, 
the  Indian  Ocean,  and  the  China  Sea  was  altogether  too 
costly,  so  I  went  by  steamer  to  Aspinwall  (Colon)  —  let  it 
be  remembered  that  even  the  pioneer  trans-continental  rail- 
way, the  Union  and  the  Central  Pacific,  was  not  opened 
until  three  years  after  I  made  my  first  trip  to  the  Far  East. 
From  Aspinwall  I  crossed  the  Isthmus  by  the  Panama  Rail- 
way, taking  the  best  part  of  a  day  to  accomplish  the  forty 
or  so  miles,  went  up  the  west  coast  by  another  steamer  to  San 
Francisco,  and,  after  three  weeks'  delay  there,  took  passage 
in  a  large  sailing  vessel,  loaded  with  wheat  and  flour,  direct 
for  Hongkong;  although  we  passed  in  front  of  Honolulu  and 
so  close  to  the  beach  that  we  could  distinguish  a  single  indi- 
vidual on  the  shore,  and  our  numbers  were  read  from  the 
observatory  so  that  our  passing  was  reported  by  the  next 
mail  going  back  to  San  Francisco.    Afterwards  we  sighted 


VUl  INTRODUCTION 

Guam,  Luzon,  and  the  Bashee  Islands,  and  the  entire  voyage 
across  the  Pacific  was  accompUshed  in  seventy-seven  days, 
towards  the  end  becoming  so  tedious  that  we  were  very  glad 
indeed  to  see  the  coast  of  China  late  one  afternoon  near  the 
end  of  August,  and  the  next  day  to  get  on  shore  at  Hong- 
kong. I  stayed  there  only  one  day  and  a  half  and  then 
went  by  a  small  steamer  to  Swatow,  where  I  landed  early 
one  morning  and  at  once  passed  into  a  new  phase  of  hfe  that 
was  almost  inconceivably  different  from  anything  I  had 
previously  known  or,  to  tell  the  truth,  even  dreamt  of. 

When  I  recall  the  backwardness  of  China  in  the  year  1866, 
and  the  fact  that  a  similar  appearance  of  unprogressiveness 
was  a  marked  feature  of  life  in  that  part  of  the  world  until 
a  very  few  years  ago;  and  then  when  I  note  the  tremendous 
strides  the  Chinese  have  made  during  a  decade  or  so,  it 
seems  as  if  the  charge  of  inertia  must  be  withdrawn;  and  if 
for  just  and  sufficient  reason  it  is  once  withdrawn,  even  for  a 
moment,  the  very  doing  so  connotes  a  change  in  all  things 
Chinese  so  radical  that  never  again  will  it  be  possible  to 
renew  the  charge  of  inertia;  because  the  motion  which  will 
have  been  imparted  is  to  endure  for  all  time.  But  will  it  go 
on  to  self-destructive  acceleration;  or  will  it  be  wisely  con- 
trolled by  the  rulers  and  leaders  of  the  Coming  China,  so  as 
to  benefit  the  Chinese  themselves  and  contribute  to  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  world? 

It  is  only  fair  to  the  Chinese  to  say  that  the  faults  of  back- 
wardness and  unprogressiveness,  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
were  not  solely  limited  to  their  ways  of  doing  things.  There 
were  clear  and  immistakable  signs  still  to  be  noticed  of  that 
leisurely  and  conservative  way  of  transacting  business  that 
had  come  to  the  European  official  and  merchant  in  the  lazy 
life  of  British  India,  the  Tropical  Islands,  and  elsewhere. 
There  was  little  necessity  admitted  for  being  in  a  hurry  to  do 
anything  except  the  pursuit  of  sport,  and  the  comforting 
rule  of  "never  doing  anything  to-day  which  can  possibly 
be  put  ofif  until  to-morrow"  was  amusingly  lived  up  to. 
Day  after  day  would  be  spent  in  "pottering"  about  a  bank 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

or  office,  idling  with  account  books,  and  such  perfunctory 
matters,  with  occasionally  a  talk,  through  an  interpreter  too 
frequently,  with  a  native  merchant  which  might  or  might 
not  result  in  a  profitable  transaction.  Rarely  was  work  put 
out  of  hand  which  could  easily  have  been  done  at  any  time. 
Letters  that  might  perfectly  well  have  been  answered  as  soon 
as  they  had  been  read,  were  put  into  pigeon-holes  until 
"Mail  Day";  for  it  seemed  to  be  considered  contrary  to  the 
unwritten  but  very  inflexible  law  of  business  etiquette  to 
give  a  letter  a  date  even  twenty-four  hours  ahead  of  the  day 
when  mails  for  abroad  closed.  Consequently,  on  the  arrival 
of  Mail  Day  —  and  it  might  be  Sunday  as  well  as  Monday 
—  there  was  a  momentary  break  in  the  apathy  that  hung  over 
the  little  foreign  business  community.  Everybody,  from 
"Taipan"  (the  heads  of  banks,  commercial  houses,  steam- 
ship agencies,  and  the  like,  are  so  called)  down  to  the  lowest- 
rank  native  ofiice  "boy"  (always  a  man  in  years!),  had  to  be 
on  hand  at  an  early  hour.  Coats  and  collars  went  oflf, 
"punkahs"  swung  violently  over  desks  (if  it  was  summer 
time),  all  hands  went  about  in  a  frantic  rush,  and  there  was 
the  greatest  possible  excitement  until  the  steamer's  whistle 
announced  her  speedy  departure.  It  seemed  to  be  our  am- 
bition to  get  shipments  of  treasure  or  merchandise  passed 
through  the  Customs  and  alongside  the  steamer  after  the 
"Blue  Peter"  had  been  lowered  as  a  sign  that  the  anchor 
was  "hove  short"  or  the  buoy  "unshackled";  while  to  send 
a  clerk  "shinning"  up  the  "chains"  or  clambering  up  the 
half-raised  companion  ladder  after  the  engines  had  begun  to 
move,  was  considered  a  real  triumph  of  business  enterprise. 
I  well  remember  a  rebuke  administered  to  myself  for  daring 
in  my  youthful  enthusiasm  and  inexperience,  for  I  was  then 
a  veritable  "griffin"  (a  newcomer),  to  attempt  a  departure 
from  this  rule  of  putting  off  everything  until  the  last  minute. 
A  mail  steamer  had  arrived  at  daylight  and  she  was  bulle- 
tined to  sail  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  a  part 
of  my  duty  to  superintend  the  weighing,  packing,  shipping, 
and  insuring  of  boxes  of  "chopped"  dollars  and  silver  bullion. 


X  INTRODUCTION 

I  knew  all  this  treasure  was  in  the  vault  and  that  everything 
was  prepared  for  making  the  shipment;  therefore  soon  after 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  told  the  Shroff  to  get  ready. 
He  was  rather  surprised  and  demurred  a  little;  but  he  set 
about  to  obey  me.  Just  then  my  employer  passed  and  asked 
what  I  was  doing.  When  I  had  told  him  and  given  my 
reasons,  which  I  shall  always  feel  were  good  and  sufficient, 
he  sharply  reprimanded  me  for  departing  from  established 
precedent  and  being  in  such  indecent  haste;  it  would  be  quite 
time  enough,  he  said,  to  attend  to  the  matter  after  tiffin.  I 
swallowed  the  rebuff;  the  Shroff  and  the  coolies  who  were  to 
do  the  heavy  work  all  grinned,  and  I  took  my  lesson  to  my 
desk,  although  I  never  did  see  what  was  gained  by  such 
rigid  adherence  to  what  was  so  much  revered  by  some  of  my 
Chinese  friends,  and  had  seemingly  come  to  be  a  shibboleth 
of  foreigners,  too,  obedience  to  ''Old  Custom!"  In  this 
sort  of  whirl  passed  Mail  Day.  If  the  steamer  was  so  incon- 
siderate as  to  appear  in  the  afternoon  or  evening,  there  was 
always  some  reason  for  despatching  her  at  daylight  the  next 
morning,  and  we  had  to  work  all  night.  Then  came  the 
relapse;  everybody  tired  out,  hot,  dusty,  cross,  and  uncom- 
fortable; often  it  was  late  at  night  when  I,  the  junior  clerk, 
was  sent  off  in  the  house-boat  with  the  letters,  unless  some 
one  of  my  seniors  had  friends  going  away  to  whom  he  wished 
to  say  good-by.  The  whole  staff  would  be  half -starved; 
yet  the  same  process  would  be  begun  again  the  next  day: 
putting  off  what  might  have  been  done  forthwith,  wasting 
time  instead  of  making  the  best  and  most  reasonable  use  of 
it,  and  so  going  along  from  hour  to  hour  until  the  next 
Mail  Day  brought  its  own  accumulation  and  rush.  Con- 
ditions have  so  much  changed  in  these  times  of  almost  daily 
mails,  across  the  Pacific,  by  Suez  Canal,  by  Siberian  Railway, 
that  only  a  very,  very  few  old-timers  will  recognize  the 
picture  I  have  drawn;  but  those  who  do  must  admit  that  it 
is  correct. 

In  1866  there  was  but  one  line  of  steamers  giving  Euro- 
pean mail  service  to  China  ports,  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental 


^ 


INTRODUCTION^  xi 

Steam  Navigation  Company,  British,  whose  small  vessels 
sailed  from  Ceylon  to  Hongkong  and  Shanghai;  from  the 
former  port  still  smaller  steamers  furnished  facilities  for 
travelling  up  the  coast  to  Swatow,  Amoy,  and  Foochow  and 
return.  The  postage  on  a  letter  weighing  half  an  ounce 
from  the  United  States  to  any  open  port  in  China  was  forty- 
eight  cents,  if  the  letter  went  to  Southampton,  England, 
and  thence  by  direct  P.  &  O.  steamer  to  Alexandria,  Egypt, 
crossed  the  Isthmus  by  train,  via  Cairo,  on  to  Suez,  thence 
by  another  P.  &  O.  steamer  to  Point  de  Galle,  on  the  Island 
of  Ceylon.  Here  the  steamer  from  Suez  was  usually  sent  to 
Bombay  or  Calcutta;  another  service  of  the  same  company 
took  passengers,  mails,  and  cargo  to  AustraHa;  and  a  third 
was  the  China  line.  The  regular  lines  to  Japan  were  not 
opened  for  some  time  after  the  date  of  which  I  am  now 
writing.  If  it  were  desired  to  hurry  the  letter  forward,  or 
if  —  by  mishap  —  it  was  just  too  late  to  catch  the  steamer 
at  Southampton,  it  had  to  be  marked  "Via  Marseilles,"  and 
fifty-two  cents  postage  affixed.  Then  it  was  sent  by  rail 
across  France  to  that  port,  at  which  place  the  P.  &  O.  steam- 
ers always  called  on  their  way  to  or  from  Alexandria.  There 
was  only  one  mail  a  month,  and  it  can  readily  be  imagined 
how  eagerly  we  looked  for  the  semaphore  signal  that  an- 
nounced, "Steamer  coming  with  European  mails."  At  that 
time  there  was  not  a  telegraph  line  in  all  of  China.  The 
nearest  approach  to  telegraphic  communication  with  the 
world  at  large  that  we  had,  was  to  send  a  letter-message  to 
Shanghai  and  Tientsin,  thence  to  Peking,  thence  by  special 
courier  to  Kiahkta,  just  across  the  Russian  frontier,  far 
north  of  Peking,  in  Siberia,  where  the  message  was  given  into 
the  hands  of  the  Russian  telegraph  service,  but  it  had  to  be 
written  in  either  Russian  or  French.  This  process,  of 
course,  consumed  a  lot  of  time,  and  before  a  message  from 
the  south  of  China  was  actually  "on  the  wire,"  days  enough 
had  passed  to  permit  now  of  sending  a  letter  by  mail  steamer 
across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  almost  to  get  a  reply  in  the  same 
way.     There  was,  in  the  autumn  of  1866,  no  regular  and  — 


XU  INTRODUCTION 

properly  speaking  —  public  telegraph  service  across  the 
Atlantic,  so  that  —  in  very  truth  —  there  was  really  no  such 
thing  as  "cabling"  to  America  from  China. 

It  was  not  long  after  my  arrival  in  China  that  a  French 
steamship  company,  La  Compagnie  Messageries  Maritime, 
opened  a  monthly  line  from  Marseilles  to  Shanghai,  following 
the  route  of  the  P.  &  O.,  with  the  addition  of  a  stop  at  Saigon, 
and  alternating  with  the  English  Company,  so  that  we  then 
had  a  fortnightly  mail  service  between  Europe  and  China; 
but  the  postage  was  not  reduced  until  the  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  Company  opened  its  trans-Pacific  line  from  San 
Francisco  to  Hongkong  via  Yokohama,  under  the  American 
flag.  These  American  steamers  were  huge,  high,  broad,  and 
short  "  side- wheelers "  with  walking-beam  engines,  and  were 
totally  unfitted  for  such  a  long  voyage  in  what  was  all  too 
often  anything  but  "pacific"  waters.  They  were,  however, 
delightfully  comfortable  for  passengers,  having  wide  free 
decks,  well  ventilated  cabins,  and  spacious  saloons;  but  they 
were  deadly  slow,  for  when  they  were  steaming  eight  or  ten 
knots  an  hour,  they  were  supposed  to  be  doing  something 
wonderful.  The  voyage  from  Hongkong  to  Yokohama  took 
anywhere  from  a  week  to  ten  days,  as  against  four  days  now; 
and,  once  out  in  the  broad  Pacific  headed  for  San  Francisco 
from  Yokohama,  the  cruise  by  "great  circle"  sailing  was 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  days'  duration,  where  now  it  is 
made  easily  in  fifteen  or  sixteen  days,  including  a  stay  of 
twenty-four  hours  or  so  at  Honolulu. 

In  those  old  days  there  was  positively  no  Chinese  postal 
service.  The  European  officials  of  the  Imperial  Maritime 
Customs  Service  rendered  every  facihty  at  their  command 
and  it  was  a  great  deal,  everything,  in  fact,  in  forwarding 
mail  from  the  incoming  European  steamers  on  arrival  at 
Shanghai,  to  the  "outports,"  that  is,  the  few  places  which 
had  then  been  thrown  open  to  foreigners  for  residence  and 
trade.  It  was  the  self-enforced  duty  of  the  steamship  agent 
to  make  up  a  bag  of  mail  to  be  sent  forward  by  any  steamer 
which  might  be  going  out  on  a  branch  line.    At  Hongkong 


INTRODUCTION  XIU 

there  was  a  general  post-office,  and  all  ports  in  Southern 
China,  that  is,  including  Foochow,  Amoy,  Swatow,  Formosa, 
Canton,  Whampao,  and  Macao,  used  the  stamps  issued  by 
that  colony  for  posting  letters  to  go  abroad;  local  letters 
were  simply  put  into  the  steamer's  bag  and  distributed  by 
the  agents  at  the  proper  port.  At  every  other  port  there 
was  a  post-office  in  each  of  the  consulates  representing 
nations  which  might  have  steamers  bringing  in  mails  from 
abroad  or  from  the  other  coast  ports,  and  it  was  necessary 
for  us  first  to  find  out  what  steamer  had  arrived  and  what 
flag  she  flew;  then  to  send  to  the  proper  consulate  for  our 
mail. 

The  leading  reason  for  the  opening  of  that  particular  port 
of  Swatow,  which  was  not  one  of  the  original  treaty-ports, 
was  to  give  another  entrance  for  the  accursed  Indian  opium; 
and  this  was,  for  a  long  time,  almost  the  only  thing  that 
figured  in  the  list  of  imports,  while  the  exports  were  nearly 
Umited  to  boxes  of  "chopped"  dollars  or  silver  bulUon  sent 
to  Hongkong  to  pay  for  the  drug.  These  "chopped"  dol- 
lars demand  a  moment's  notice,  for  they  led  up  to  a  condition 
of  affairs  in  financial  and  mercantile  life  which  is  now  prov- 
ing burdensome,  absolutely  anomalous,  and  productive  of 
grave  scandals.  Whenever,  in  those  early  days,  and  I 
refer,  of  course,  back  to  the  very  beginning  of  trade  between 
the  Chinese  and  Europeans,  a  Spanish  or  a  Mexican  dollar 
(and  these  were  virtually  the  only  medium  of  exchange  in 
transactions  wherein  foreigners  were  purchasers)  came  into 
the  hands  of  a  Chinese  merchant  or  shopkeeper,  he  forthwith 
tested  it  with  the  means  at  his  command,  then  put  upon  it 
his  own  private  mark,  an  impression  sharply  cut  upon  a 
small  steel  die,  called  by  the  foreigners  a  "chop."  It  was 
nominally  a  guarantee  of  value,  but  I  never  knew  it  to  be 
held  as  such.  This  "chop"  was  a  tiny  Chinese  ideograph, 
usually  one  of  those  making  the  owner's  felicitous  "hong" 
or  shop  name,  corresponding  to  "The  Blue  Bell"  signs  of 
our  forefathers,  although  sometimes  it  was  one  character  of 
the  individual's  personal  name;  the  impression  was  deeply 


XIV  INTRODUCTION 

punched  right  at  the  middle  of  the  coin.  This  same  process 
was  repeated  by  each  merchant  or  tradesman  in  turn,  until 
the  coin  was  thinned  out  sometimes  to  half  again  its  original 
diameter  and  became  more  or  less  cup-shaped.  It  was  so 
nearly  impossible  for  the  ordinary  person  to  know  which  of 
these  "chopped"  dollars  were  genuine  (for  counterfeits 
were  simply  innumerable),  that  specially  trained  men, 
called  "Shroffs,"  were  required  to  examine  and  pass  them. 
At  least  one  such  Shroff  was  attached  to  each  native  commer- 
cial house  of  any  importance,  and  in  the  foreign  banks  and 
"hongs,"  as  well,  there  were  always  several.  Usually  the 
Shroff  was  subordinate  to  the  head  of  the  staff  of  native 
employees,  the  "  Compradore,"  who  was  responsible  for  the 
Shroff's  integrity,  as  he  was  for  all  the  staff.  The  custody  of 
all  the  funds  of  the  establishment  was  given  to  the  Shroff, 
who  was  occasionally  guaranteed  by  the  bond  of  a  responsi- 
ble guild,  and  all  cash  receipts  and  payments  passed  through 
his  hands.  As  paper  currency  became  slowly  popular,  this, 
too,  was  entrusted  to  the  Shrofif.  Such  currency  was  rarely 
anything  but  the  notes  issued  by  the  foreign  (at  that  time 
British  only)  banks  in  the  colony  of  Hongkong  and  the 
leading  China  port,  Shanghai,  and  circulated  by  their 
branches  and  agencies  at  the  minor  ports.  The  few  notes, 
bills  of  exchange,  and  other  paper  money  coming  from 
Chinese  banks  or  merchants,  never  even  reached  the  prin- 
cipals of  the  foreign  business  houses,  the  Shroff  accepting 
such  entirely  upon  his  own  responsibility  and  at  his  own 
risk.  The  guarantee  of  the  Compradore,  himself  backed 
by  a  strong  guild,  or  the  bond  (as  we  should  call  it)  of  the 
guild  to  which  the  Shroff  belonged,  was  almost  always  quite 
sufficient  security,  and  there  were  remarkably  few  cases  of 
misappropriation  of  funds  or  loss  through  the  Shroff's 
unfaithfulness  or  errors  in  judgment.  These  native  account- 
ants and  cashiers,  the  Compradores  and  Shroffs,  have  re- 
mained as  an  institution,  as  a  veritable  incubus,  as  I  think  I 
shall  be  able  to  show,  even  until  the  present  day,  although 
the  necessity  for   them  has   long   since   disappeared;   the 


Another  View  of  Amoy 


A  EtuoPEAN  Home,  Amoy 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

"chopping"  of  dollars  has  practically  been  discontinued;  the 
testing  of  "sycee,"  or  silver  bullion,  can  now  readily  be  done 
by  chemists  or  local  mints  or  assay  offices;  while  any  qualified 
foreign  cashier  should  be  amply  competent  to  pass  upon 
the  genuineness  of  all  bank-notes  which  pass  through  his 
hands. 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  all  these  matters,  in 
order  that  the  contrast  between  conditions  to-day  and  those 
which  existed  until,  practically,  ten  years  ago  or  so  may  be 
shown  more  clearly.  These  newer  conditions  will  be  discussed 
fully  in  their  proper  places  later;  but  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  way  the  Chinese  merchants  availed  themselves,  in 
those  days  of  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  of  the  Western 
methods  for  facilitating  international  business  intercourse, 
indicates  a  degree  of  progress  and  a  desire  to  advance  with 
which  few  Americans  or  Europeans  have  been  disposed  to 
credit  the  Chinese.  This  is  but  one  of  many  cases  in  which 
we  are  even  now  labouring  under  grave  misapprehension, 
perhaps  deliberate  misjudgment. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction vii 

I.   "China  for  the  Chinese" i 

II.  Western  Attitude  in  the  Past;  Views  of 

Leading  Chinese 29 

III.  Present  Feeling  in  the  United  States     .  57 

IV.  The  Possibilities  of  a  Transformed  China  80 

V.   China's   Attitude   in   the    Past    towards 

the  "Foreign  Devils" iii 

VI.  Possibility  of  Dynastic  Change      .      .      .  135 

VII.   Entrance  of  the  United  States  into   the 

Far  Eastern  Arena 158 

VIII.   Missionary  Effort  as  a  Factor  in  China's 

Development 185 

IX.   Japan's  Influence  upon  China    ....  207 

X.   How  shall    China   bear   herself   towards 

Other  Nations? 229 

XI.  The  Duty  of  the  United   States  towards 

China 256 

Index 289 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Entrance  to  White  Stag  Temple,  Amoy     .      .      .     Frontispiece 
S.  S.  Fatshan  mooring  at  her  Wharf  after  her  Daily  Trip, 

Canton viii 

Peddar's  Wharf  Landing  Place,  Hongkong       .      .      .      .  x 

Murray  Pier,  from  Bathhouse,  Hongkong xii 

The  Settlement,  Amoy xiv 

A  European  Home,  Amoy xiv 

Interior  of  the  Temple  of  Five  Hundred  Genii,  Canton     .  6 

People  on  the  Lookout  for  Dragon  Boats,  Canton       .      .  i8 

The  Tang  Kang  or  Polum  Bridge 26 

Temple  at  Loong-wha 34 

Loong-wha  Pagoda 34 

Two  Modes  of  Conveyance 42 

Water  Buffalo  and  Boy  Caretaker 50 

Water  Torii,  Miyajima 50 

Bronze  Statue  of  H.  E.  Li  Hung-Chang  in  the  Gardens 

named  after  him,  near  Zi-ka-wei      .      .      .      .      .      .  52 

Large  Stone  Bridge,  near  Shanghai 52 

View  of  Amoy 62 

Foreigner's  Residence,  Amoy 62 

Idol  procession;  not  an  Uncommon  Scene  in  Shanghai      .  74 

"  On  the  Way  to  a  Heathen  Ceremony." 74 

Chinese  in  Mandarin  Dress  in  Idol  Procession,  Shanghai  .  80 

Athletes  of  St.  John's  University ,^  Shanghai     ....  90 
"The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  by  Chinese  Students  at 

St.  John's  University,  Shanghai 90 

Memorial  Arch  in  the  Grounds  of  one  of  the  Large  Mer- 
chants' Guilds 100 

Memorial  to  Baron  von  Kettler,  at  Peking      .      .      .      .100 

xix 


XX  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Old  Woman  on  a  Farm  near  the  Native  City  Wall     .      .  114 

Widow's  Memorial  Arch,  near  Shanghai 114 

Teachers  of  English  at  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai  .  120 
Chinese   Officers    with  Foreign   Major    of    Battalion    at 

St.  John's  University,  Shanghai 120 

Chinese  Prisoner:  Punishment  with  the  "  Cangue  "     .      .  126 

Women  punished  by  being  put  in  the  Stocks  .      .      .      .  126 

Paper  Money  used  as  Offerings  for  the  Dead  ....  138 

Electric  Cars  on  the  Garden  Bridge,  Shanghai       .      .      .  138 

Zi-ka-wei:  Native  Houseboats 144 

Wall  at  Soochow 144 

Foreign  Gardens  on  the  Bund,  Shanghai 154 

Wall  of  the  Native  City,  Shanghai 170 

Associated  Wharves,  Shanghai 170 

The  Bund,  Shanghai 184 

Geometry  at  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai  ....  190 

In  the  Science  Department,  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai  190 

Hill  Temple,  Amoy 200 

White  Stag  Temple,  Amoy 200 

Tea  Gardens  within  the  Native  City,  Shanghai  .  .  .  210 
St.    John's    University;   the    Campus,    showing    Yii   Hall 

Preparatory  Building  and  Science  Hall,  Shanghai  .  .  222 
Quadrangle  and  Clock  —  Foreign  Buildings  with  Chinese 

Roofs,  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai 222 

Another  view  of  Amoy 246 

Pachao  Pagoda,  Canton 270 

Woman  with  Compressed  Feet 284 


THE    COMING    CHINA 


THE   COMING   CHINA 

CHAPTER   I 

"CHINA  FOR  THE  CHINESE'' 

WE  have  become  so  accustomed  to  think  of  China 
as  the  very  ideal  of  immobility,  the  epitome 
of  all  things  conservative,  that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
that  land  and  its  people  as  evincing  any  of  the  progres- 
siveness  which  is  claimed  to  be  characteristic  of  China's 
island  neighbour,  Japan,  the  rest  of  the  world  generally, 
and  of  the  West  particularly.  If  we  were  to  judge  by 
practically  all  the  evidence  of  what  we  had  as  history 
until  very  recently  there  is  really  no  other  opinion  that 
we  could  have  formed.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
histories  of  China  given  to  us  heretofore  have  not  done 
the  Chinese  full  justice.  This  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  those  histories  were  intentionally  unfair;  only  that 
the  writers  had  not  been  able  to  put  themselves  in  the 
proper  perspective.  It  is  not  intended  now  to  write  a 
history  of  China;  that  is  not  in  any  way  the  purpose 
of  this  book.  Still  it  is  well  to  ask  ourselves  some  ques- 
tions: Is  history  always  and  infallibly  a  safe  guide  in 
determining  what  is  right  to-day  or  what  may  be  in  the 
future?  Are  we  always  quite  correct  when  we  quote 
Patrick  Henry  and  say:  "I  know  no  way  of  judging  of 
the  future  but  by  the  past"?     It  would  be  an  imwise 


2  THE     COMING     CHINA 

thing  to  do  in  this  particular  case  of  trying  to  estimate 
what  the  Coming  China  will  be.  If  it  were  wise,  then 
there  is  little  hope  for  China  and  less  for  us  who  are 
interestedly  watching  for  her  true  development.  We 
Americans  would  be  mistaken,  probably,  in  trying  to 
push  our  diplomacy  in  the  Far  East  along  broad  lines, 
or  for  humanitarian  or  altruistic  purposes,  if  we  were 
to  be  governed  or  even  influenced  solely  by  what  has 
been  in  the  past.  It  is  just  this  blind  way  of  trying  to 
determine  the  future  by  the  past  which  makes  Japan 
see  in  our  friendliness  towards  China  a  sordid  motive, 
and  which  leads  so  many  Japanese  publicists  to  think 
that  the  United  States  wants  Manchuria  for  itself,  or, 
perhaps,  even  a  larger  slice  of  the  Celestial  Empire  than 
just  those  three  Eastern  provinces.  It  is  undeniably  this 
lamentable  mistake  of  judging  the  future  by  the  past 
that  makes  Japan  disapprove  so  vehemently  America's 
growing  popularity  with  the  Chinese  and  America's 
frank  championing  of  China's  iuterests  on  every  rea- 
sonable occasion.  It  was  probably  an  unmistakable 
evidence  of  this  Japanese  jealousy  that  led  the  "  Phila- 
delphia PubKc  Ledger"  to  say,  apropos  of  Mr.  Secretary 
Knox's  suggestion  to  neutralize  the  Manchurian  rail- 
ways: "Japan  realizes  that  China  is  the  'big  game'  of 
the  future  for  it,  and  it  was  assumed  that  if  the  Ameri- 
can influence  could  be  checked  and  its  diplomacy  branded 
as  a  fiasco,  there  would  be  a  loss  of  prestige  and  cor- 
responding decline  of  American  influence  in  China."  In 
the  opinion  of  many  Japanese,  at  the  time  the  Secretary's 
proposal  was  so  openly  flouted,  and  perhaps  in  that  of 
many  others  as  well,  it  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  Japan's 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"  3 

manoeuvre  to  bring  about  this  belittling  of  American 
effort  in  China's  behalf  had  succeeded  remarkably  well. 
But  even  so,  shall  we  say  this  precludes  further  effort 
to  help  China  recover  what  is  incontestably  her  own,  to 
reassert  vigourously  her  own  autonomous  rights,  and  to 
advance  along  a  path  that  would  have  been  entirely 
impossible  for  her  to  tread  without  grievous  stumbling 
twenty  years  ago,  even  had  there  been,  what  was  then 
almost  an  incredible  thing,  a  desire  on  her  part  to  enter 
such  a  bewildering  road?  This  is  itself  a  brilliant  ex- 
ample of  the  possible  danger  of  judging  of  the  future 
by  the  past.  In  the  world's  political  and  international 
history  we  do  find  Jew  cases  of  disinterestedness  on  the 
part  of  a  great  and  powerful  nation  lending  such  aid  to 
another,  a  smaller  one  physically  or  a  weaker  one  mili- 
tantly;  there  has  rarely  been  aught  of  altruism  about 
such  action,  and  there  has  almost  infallibly  come  later 
a  demand  for  compensation  by  the  helper  that  has 
worked  disastrously  for  the  helped.  Hence,  we  must 
not  be  altogether  surprised  that  Japan  pretended  to 
assume  that  America's  apparent  friendliness  was  a  cloak 
for  selfishness;  and  yet  it  seems  to  call  for  no  great 
attainment  in  statesmanship,  nothing  more  than  might 
fairly  be  expected  in  the  veriest  tyro,  to  show  Japan 
that  such  procedure  was  opposed  to  every  American 
principle,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  United  States 
to  contemplate  exacting  from  China  a  tangible  reward 
for  her  friendly  effort  in  the  matter  of  the  Manchurian 
railways.  Events  of  the  past  eighteen  months  have 
gone  far  towards  making  even  the  hottest  of  the  Japa- 
nese publicists  see  this,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 


4  THE     COMING     CHINA 

now  that  the  neutralization  of  the  Manchurian  railways 
has  not  yet  been  finally  and  indefinitely  shelved.  The 
movement  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Secretary  Knox  has 
found  favour  with  many  Chinese,  who  may  bring  it  up 
again  in  such  a  manner  as  to  appeal  to  the  sense  of  justice 
of  other  great  Powers,  who  have  shown  a  disposition  to 
resent  the  semi-official  utterances  of  some  Japanese  that 
Japan  is  in  Manchuria  to  stay  and  to  dominate  the 
whole  territory. 

Just  when  the  Chinese  began  their  existence,  even  as 
the  people  whom  we  now  call  by  that  name,  is  unsatis- 
factorily determined  by  what  we  can  see  as  we  look  back 
along  the  thousands  of  years  during  which  they  must 
have  been  pretty  much  the  same  as  they  were  when  we 
really  came  to  know  them.  Nor  can  we  put  our  fingers 
precisely  upon  the  exact  time  when  those  same  people, 
recognized  as  representatives  of  an  organized  nation,  first 
began  to  have  intercourse  with  other  peoples  to  the  south 
and  west  of  themselves.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the 
words  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  verse  of  the  forty-ninth 
chapter  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  ''Behold,  these  shall 
come  from  far;  and,  lo,  these  from  the  north  and  from 
the  west;  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim,"  referred  to 
the  Chinese;  and  this  prophecy  dates  back  to  about 
712  B.C.,  or  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  before  the 
Chinese  sage,  Confucius,  was  born,  who  is  assumed  to 
have  hved  B.C.  551-479.  From  that  early  date  onward 
there  is  ample  evidence  to  warrant  the  statement  that 
the  people  of  China  possessed  some  knowledge  of  south- 
western Asia  and  of,  at  least,  the  adjacent  parts  of 
Europe  continuously,  and  were  in  desultory  communi- 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"  5 

cation  with  the  West  for  many  centuries,  or,  indeed, 
until  this  was  interrupted  by  what  we  can  but  think  was 
good  and  sufficient  cause. 

It  is  certain  that  the  ancient  Persians  knew  and  used 
the  silk  fabrics  from  China,  and  that,  in  the  second 
century  B.C.,  Phoenician,  Carthaginian,  and  Syrian 
merchants  carried  on  extensive  trading  operations  in 
every  direction,  which  included  a  considerable  and  profit- 
able commerce  with  China.  It  was,  too,  about  this  time, 
one  himdred  years  or  more  before  Christ,  that  the  first 
mention  of  a  country,  unmistakably  identified  as  China, 
occurs  in  European  history  —  in  a  battle  between  Phra- 
ortes  and  the  Scythians  the  Chinese  aided  the  latter  and 
ravaged  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea  (Lengfelt).  In 
Chinese  records  it  is  stated  that  at  a  date  which  corre- 
sponds with  the  year  61  of  the  Christian  era,  the  reign- 
ing emperor,  Ming  Ti,  had  a  dream  which,  to  his  con- 
viction, confirmed  a  declaration  that  had  been  made  by 
Confucius  five  hundred  years  before  that  time,  in  which 
the  native  philosopher  foretold  "a  sage  having  the  true 
wisdom  would  be  born  in  the  West. "  On  the  strength 
of  his  dream  and  the  prophecy,  the  Emperor  sent  an 
envoy  to  the  West  "to  procure  books  which  should  teach 
this  true  religion."  The  Imperial  instructions  were 
fairly  explicit,  it  would  seem,  but  the  ambassador  was 
loath  to  face  the  hardships  and  perils  of  the  almost 
unknown  country  lying  beyond  the  extreme  western 
Chinese  frontier  —  a  territory  considered  then  to  be 
nearly  an  impassable  desert  and  even  now  well  known  to 
be  anything  but  an  hospitable  and  attractive  region. 
He  deflected  his  course  towards  the  south  and  eventually 


6  THE     COMING     CHINA 

entered  India  from  the  northwest,  through  the  western 
passes  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  Here  he  procured 
Buddhist  books,  sutras,  and  manuscripts,  and  engaged 
some  priests  to  return  with  him.  Apparently  the  Em- 
peror was  satisfied  with  the  report  of  his  ambassador, 
although  it  would  have  been  extremely  interesting  had 
the  mission  faithfully  executed  the  Imperial  command, 
since  that  might  have  resulted  in  the  early  introduction 
of  the  true  Christian  doctrine  in  circimistances  highly 
favourable  thereto.  The  slight  conflict  between  this 
account  of  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  and  the  ac- 
cepted Chinese  one,  although  the  two  agree  fairly  well 
in  date  —  for  it  is  usually  said  that "  a  form  of  Buddhism, 
or  the  religion  of  Fo,  was  introduced  about  a.d.  68-81 " — 
is  not  material  and  need  not  be  considered  as  detracting 
in  any  way  from  the  honour  of  the  Chinese  who  is  said 
to  have  been  sent  expressly  to  India  to  investigate 
Buddhism. 

In  the  year  126  a.d.  a  Chinese  general  went  as  far 
west  as  the  Valley  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  from  that 
region  took  back  to  his  own  people  the  grapevine,  which 
was  thereafter  successfully  cultivated  in  many  places, 
particularly  in  Northern  China.  In  166  a.d.  the  Ro- 
man Emperor,  Marcus  Antoninus,  sent  an  embassy  to 
China  by  sea  to  procure  the  rich  silks  of  that  land,  whose 
fame  had  long  before  reached  the  ears  of  Europeans; 
but  silk  culture  was  not  properly  attempted  in  Europe 
until  some  centuries  later,  during  the  reign  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  Justim'an  (528  a.d.).  We  are  accustomed  to 
associate  the  word  "tea"  — a  corruption  of  the  Chinese 
"cha"  —  solely  with  China,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE**  7 

this  plant  was  taken  into  China  from  India  about  the 
year  315  a.d.  In  these  early  centuries  of  our  era,  trade 
between  China  and  Arabia,  Greece,  and  Constantinople 
was  developed  to  very  considerable  proportions.  There 
is  a  French  translation  of  what  purports  to  be  the  narra- 
tive of  two  Mahommedan  travellers  (merchants,  appar- 
ently) in  India  and  China  during  the  ninth  century. 
The  original  was  written  in  Arabic,  of  course,  and  it  has 
not  been  given  the  dignity  of  an  EngUsh  translation 
(so  far  as  we  know),  which  fact  may,  possibly,  militate 
against  its  value.  It  is  probably  from  this  book,  how- 
ever, that  the  statement  is  taken  of  the  sacking,  about 
877  A.D.,  of  Kan-fu,  a  seaport  on  the  southern  coast  of 
China,  to  which  place  all  the  Arabian  and  European 
traffic  was  directed.  One  himdred  and  twenty  thousand 
Mahommedans,  Jews,  Christians,  and  Parsees  are  said 
to  have  lost  their  hves,  but  if  the  enormous  number  is 
even  approximately  correct,  there  must  have  been  a  very 
large  proportion  of  native  converts  and  attendants,  for 
all  could  not  possibly  have  been  foreign  merchants  and 
ships'  crews.  What  we  gather  from  Chinese  accoimts 
which  may  bear  upon  this  uprising  justifies  us  now  in 
assuming  that  the  disorderly  conduct  of  the  foreigners 
gave  something  of  provocation  to  the  Chinese. 

Nestorian  Christians  were  well  treated  by  the  Chinese 
officials  for  a  time,  but  in  the  same  ninth  century  they 
were  proscribed  and  virtually  extirpated.  Some  of  their 
missionaries,  returning  to  Europe,  took  with  them  silk- 
worm eggs  to  Constantinople;  but  it  is  possible  this  was 
an  act  of  smuggHng,  for  it  is  alleged  that  the  Chinese 
authorities  were  then  opposed  to  the  export  of  such 


8  THE     COMING     CHINA 

articles,  having  in  mind  to  retain,  as  far  as  possible,  a 
monopoly  of  sericulture.  Trading  missions  from  Rome, 
Constantinople,  and  Arabia  to  China  continued  down  to 
about  the  year  iioo.  Why  this  profitable  intercourse 
for  both  parties  engaged  therein  was  suspended  is  some- 
thing that  goes  outside  the  scope  of  this  work,  although 
it  would  be  interesting  to  investigate  the  subject.  In 
the  year  1406  we  read  of  a  displeasing  act  of  the  Chinese 
in  sending  an  armed  force  some  distance  from  home 
merely  for  conquest,  without  due  provocation.  At  that 
time  an  army  made  an  attack  upon  the  island  of  Ceylon. 
It  was  successful;  it  captured  the  king,  who  was  taken 
to  China  as  a  prisoner  of  state  and  hostage,  and  for 
some  time  after  the  island  paid  tribute  to  China.  The 
Chinese  garrison  seems,  however,  not  to  have  been  long 
maintained;  it  made  its  way  back  home  as  well  as  it 
could,  and  Ceylon,  in  fact  if  not  in  name,  disappeared 
from  the  list  of  countries  sending  tribute  bearers  to 
Peking. 

From  this,  as  well  as  from  much  more  of  similar 
import  —  too  voluminous  to  be  epitomized  even  here  — 
it  is  evident  that  until  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  of  the  Christian  era,  for  considerably  over  seven- 
teen hundred  years  in  fact,  foreign  intercourse,  both 
oflScial  and  commercial,  between  China  and  the  southern 
and  southwestern  parts  of  Asia,  as  well  as  the  south- 
eastern parts  of  Europe,  was  carried  on  continuously, 
excepting,  possibly,  during  the  period  of  the  Mongol 
invasion.  There  was  no  sign  of  any  policy  of  exclusion 
and  an  unwillingness  to  maintain  friendly  intercourse. 
The  empire  was  open  and  free  to  all  foreigners  of  every 


"china     for     the     CHINESE"  9 

calling  and  profession,  subject,  of  course,  only  to  such 
restrictions  and  limitations  as  were  usually  placed  upon 
strangers  in  all  countries  at  that  time;  yet  even  in  this 
we  fail  entirely  to  detect  any  invidious  distinction 
between  native  and  alien:  a  glance  through  any  reason- 
able edition  of  the  account  of  Marco  Polo's  travels  will 
clearly  establish  this.  The  peoples  of  western  Europe 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  knew  nothing  of 
China  from  actual  experience,  and  they  themselves  were 
equally  unknown  to  the  Chinese;  while  we  know  perfectly 
well  how  hazy  was  the  legendary  knowledge  in  western 
Europe  of  China  until  well  into  the  sixteenth  century. 
In  modern  Europe,  if  we  apply  the  term  to  the  Atlantic 
border  of  the  continent,  this  was  a  period  of  exploration 
and  rather  imsavory  exploitation  along  the  west  Afri- 
can seaboard  principally.  It  was  a  time  of  brave  deeds, 
undoubtedly,  on  the  sea,  but  of  evil  ones  on  the  new 
shores;  things  were  done  openly  and  with  royal  sanction 
and  approval  that  would  to-day  justly  gain  for  the  per- 
petrators short  shrift  and  the  richly  deserved  punishment 
of  hanging  at  the  yardarm,  if  caught  open-handed  on 
the  high  seas,  or  at  any  convenient  tree  or  gibbet  upon 
landing  on  any  shore.  China,  unfortunately  for  her 
own  peace,  was  soon  to  be  disabused  of  her  confidence 
in  the  reasonable  integrity  and  good  faith  of  those  men 
from  the  West  who  had  hitherto  generally  borne  them- 
selves in  such  a  way  as  to  justify  the  Chinese  in  meeting 
them  half-way,  in  giving  them  every  faciHty  for  official 
and  commercial  intercourse,  and  in  looking  upon  that 
intercourse  as  broadening  their  own  horizon  in  every 
desirable  way.     This  may  seem  a  strange  thing  to  say 


lO  THE     COMING     CHINA 

of  China  only  four  hundred  years  ago,  but  it  is  the  truth, 
and  is  susceptible  of  incontrovertible  proof.  The  ac- 
quaintance which  the  Chinese  were  about  to  make  with 
these  newcomers  from  Europe  was  destined  to  be  any- 
thing but  a  happy  one  or  satisfactory  in  all  ways.  The 
French  appeared  in  China  for  the  first  time  in  1506;  the 
Portuguese  came  in  15 16,  and  the  Hollanders  followed 
very  soon  after  them;  the  Spaniards  landed  in  1575; 
the  British  arrived  in  1635,  and  the  Russians  sought 
acquaintance  in  1658.  With  the  possible  exception  of 
the  British  and  Russians,  all  of  these  were  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  pirates  of  the  sea;  to  call  them  explorers 
and  hardy  adventurers  may  be  euphemistically  true,  but 
when  they  landed  on  the  shores  of  China  they  continued 
to  act  just  as  such  freebooters  might  have  been  expected 
to  deport  themselves  towards  such  peaceful  agricultural- 
ists and  commercial  people  as  the  coastwise  Chinese. 
From  this  beginning  dates  a  revulsion  of  feeling  which 
has  caused  much  trouble  since  then;  but  it  cannot  be 
wondered  at.  So  far  as  we  know,  the  first  agreement  of 
something  like  a  convention  in  form  which  the  Chinese 
Government  ever  made  was  not  a  commercial  treaty  at 
all,  but  merely  a  sort  of  diplomatic  note  to  determine 
certain  disputed  boundaries  between  China  and  what 
was  claimed  as  Russian  territory;  this  was  done  in  1689. 
It  was  not  precisely  an  harmonious  commencement 
of  intercourse  with  her  big  northern  neighbour  and, 
with  rare  exceptions,  has  proved  to  have  been  for 
China  an  unfortunate  precedent,  although  China  was 
successful  in  maintaining  her  rights.  The  early  influ- 
ence of  the  British  hardly  tended  to  create  a  favourable 


''china    for    the    Chinese"       h 

impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  Chinese  people  as  to 
the  good  faith  of  those  who  called  themselves  Christian 
people  and  followers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The  East 
India  Company  openly  opposed  all  Christian  propa- 
ganda in  India  and  wherever  it  sent  its  representatives, 
from  the  very  first  day  of  its  chartered  existence  until 
its  control  of  affairs,  both  diplomatic  and  commercial, 
terminated  in  1834,  although  it  is  credited  with  having 
given  assistance  to  missionaries  in  China.  There  was, 
apparently,  no  disposition  to  relieve  the  Chinese  in  the 
matter  of  the  opium  trade,  and  the  Company  flagrantly 
evaded  its  duty,  multiplied  onerous  treaty  obligations, 
and  did  all  in  its  power  to  increase  its  revenue  by  stimu- 
lating the  consumption  of  that  curse,  Indian  opium, 
until  it  was  not  surprising  that  so  many  Chinese  states- 
men and  publicists  asked  the  pertinent  question:  "Why 
does  not  the  British  Government  encourage  the  natives 
of  India  to  use  opiimi,  instead  of  trying  to  dispose  of 
nearly  the  whole  supply  to  us?" 

That  there  is  no  country  known  to  the  native  inhab- 
itants thereof  by  the  name  of  "China"  is  something 
that  is  now  fairly  familiar  to  almost  everybody.  Of  very 
recent  years,  within  ten  at  the  most,  some  of  those  who 
consider  themselves  decidedly  progressive  have  begun 
to  use,  when  speaking  Chinese,  the  name  "Chin-ha"; 
but  this  is  an  adaptation  of  something  Japanese,  a  most 
amusing  example  of  "going  roimd  Robin  Hood's  barn," 
because  the  ideographs  which  the  Chinese  call  Tsun- 
Kwoh,  "The  Land  of  Ts'in,"  are  pronounced  by  Japa- 
nese, usually,  "Chin-ha."  The  people  themselves  call 
their  country  by  a  number  of  names,  no  one  of  which 


12  THE     COMING     CHINA 

can,  by  any  process  of  transliteration  or  even  adaptation, 
be  made  to  resemble  the  word  "China."  The  most 
popular  native  term  is  "The  Middle  Kingdom."  It  has 
generally  been  assumed  that  this  term  had  a  geograph- 
ical or  physical  significance;  that  China  was  the  civilized 
centre  of  the  whole  world,  as  it  was  known  to  the  ancient 
Chinese,  aroimd  which  on  all  sides  clustered  hordes  of 
"barbarians,"  inhabiting  regions  into  which  scarcely  a 
ray  of  the  true  civilization  that  was  the  peculiar  belong- 
ing of  the  Chinese  alone  had  penetrated;  and  probably 
to  a  good  many  of  the  imeducated  and  lower  classes 
"The  Middle  Kingdom"  does  even  now  convey  that 
meaning.  But  the  true  force  of  the  word  "Middle"  is 
rather  different  from  that  —  it  indicates  a.  juste  milieu, 
a  conservative,  proper,  middle  path  along  which  the 
Chinese,  as  a  whole  people,  have  pursued  the  even  tenor 
of  their  way  for  so  many  centuries;  that  it  connotes  a 
certain  sense  of  self-complacency,  a  superiority,  in  fact, 
may  well  be.  The  Chinese  are  a  very  poetical  people 
and  in  their  stanzas  the  names  bestowed  upon  their  own 
country  are  almost  innumerable;  these  are  often  most 
fanciful  and  ornate,  sometimes  extravagant,  as  is  but 
natural.  When  the  officials  or  even  the  educated  of  the 
lower  classes  wish  to  be  a  bit  grandiose,  they  speak  of 
their  country  as  "The  Celestial  Empire,"  or  rather, 
the  ideographs  which  have  generally  been  translated  in 
that  way  convey  the  meaning  of  "the  land  that  is  like 
unto  heaven,"  for  the  Emperor  calls  himself  "The  Son 
of  Heaven,"  and  the  whole  empire  is  often  designated 
by  the  appellation  "under-heaven."  China  is  a  name 
probably  derived  from  that  of  the  Ts'in  Dynasty,  or 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"         13 

Ch'in  as  it  is  also  rendered,  which  occupied  the  throne 
during  the  second  half  of  the  third  century  B.C.  There 
was  but  one  ruler  of  this  line,  Ch'in  Shih  Huang,  or 
Chwang-seang-wang,  who  achieved  much  prominence. 
Until  that  time  China  had  been  virtually  divided  into 
a  number  of  independent  feudal  States,  Ch'in  being 
along  the  western  frontier,  where  its  ruler  and  people 
might  naturally  be  expected  to  become  expert  in  warfare 
and  enured  to  physical  hardship,  as  compared  with  the 
more  peaceful  agricidturists  and  traders  of  the  other 
states,  remote  from  the  frontier,  along  which  was  waged 
almost  continuous  warfare.  If,  however,  we  attach  any 
importance  to  the  reference  in  the  biblical  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  and  admit  that  the  name  Sinim  referred  to 
China,  it  is  evident  that  the  country  was  known  by  a 
name  similar  to  the  one  we  use,  long  before  the  days  of 
the  Ch'in  or  Ts'in  Dynasty.  Chwang-seang-wang  is  said 
to  have  begun  his  feudal  chieftainship  when  only  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  but  he  is  declared  to  have  displayed 
extraordinary  ability  and  to  have  been  possessed  of 
most  ambitious  aspirations.  He  felt  that  the  land  was 
inherently  weak  because  of  division  into  so  many  inde- 
pendent feudal  States,  and  he  set  himself  to  the  task  of 
uniting  them  imder  his  own  rule.  In  this  he  was  suc- 
cessful and  he  developed  into  "a  statesman  of  puissant 
energy  and  strongly  marked  individuality."  To  call 
him  "The  Napoleon  of  China,"  as  has  been  done,  is 
hardly  fair  to  either  personage,  even  if  he  did  arrogate 
to  himself  the  pretentious  title  of  "The  First  Emperor," 
Ch'in  Shih  Huang,  expecting  to  compel  history  to  begin 
from  himself.     In  order  to  force,  if  possible,  acquies- 


14  THE     COMING     CHINA 

cence  with  his  weakly  egotistic  scheme,  as  well  as  to  try 
to  obliterate  all  written  record  of  the  past,  thus  pre- 
venting, as  he  hoped,  comparisons  which  might  be 
invidious,  he  commanded  the  destruction  of  the  whole 
of  the  existing  literature.  The  learned  men  of  the  time 
and  the  official  censors  and  historiographers  justly 
resented  this  iconoclastic  act,  and  the  latter,  orally  and 
in  written  records,  criticised  it  most  adversely  and 
vehemently,  as  they  were  bound  to  do  by  virtue  of  their 
office.  To  their  opposition  the  Emperor  retorted  by 
ordering  four  hundred  and  sixty  of  them  to  be  buried 
alive  "for  the  encouragement  of  the  others,"  but  even 
this  strenuous  measure  proved  abortive.  The  surviving 
literati  hid  away  as  many  of  the  books  and  records  as 
possible,  and  from  these,  aided  by  their  marvellous  mem- 
ories, "wax  to  receive  and  marble  to  retain,"  they  were 
able  to  reproduce  the  greater  part  of  the  destroyed 
literature.  "China  is  perhaps  the  only  country  in  the 
world  in  which  so  overwhelming  a  calamity  could  have 
been  followed  by  effects  so  relatively  slight."  *  Professor 
H.  A.  Giles,  one  of  the  most  eminent  Sinologues  and 
Chinese  lexicographers,  speaks  of  this  act  of  vandalism 
as  one  of  the  greatest  Hterary  crimes  ever  perpetrated. 
The  language  the  Chinese  speak  is,  to  themselves, 
"the  clear  speech,"  the  gibberish  of  the  outside  barbari- 
ans being  to  them  as  disagreeable  and  as  imlike  a  proper 
human  method  of  conveying  thought  orally  as  was  the 
"Ba-ba"  of  their  neighbours  to  the  cultured  Greeks  of 
long  ago.  The  dialects  spoken  all  over  the  empire  differ 
from  one  another  so  much,  particularly  in  the  south, 
*A.  H.  Smith,  "China  and  America  To-day." 


CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"         15 

that  not  infrequently  a  peasant  who  goes  a  couple  of 
score  of  miles  from  his  home  finds  as  much  difficulty  in 
making  himself  understood  as  does  an  EngHshman  after 
crossing  the  Straits  of  Dover.  Hence  it  is  very  impor- 
tant for  a  person  who  intends  to  go  to  China  to  reside 
to  make  sure  that  the  Chinese  he  learns  is  the  right 
dialect  to  use  in  the  particular  locality  where  he  is  going 
to  settle.  The  written  language  is,  of  course,  the  same 
all  over  the  land,  even  if  it  is  read  quite  differently  in 
one  district  from  the  sound  given  it  in  another.  The 
"Mandarin  Dialect,"  the  language  of  officials,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  same  pronunciation  and  intonation 
all  over  the  country,  yet  even  this  is  not  literally  true. 
In  order  to  arrive  at  a  reasonably  clear  understanding 
of  present  conditions  in  China,  so  far  as  the  same  relate 
to  "China  for  the  Chinese,"  and  to  prepare  for  some 
exposition  of  the  views  of  leading  men  there,  it  is  im- 
peratively necessary  to  give  a  brief  resume  of  the  prin- 
cipal events  since  the  time  when  what  had  been  fairly 
amicable  and  quite  satisfactory  intercourse,  commercially 
speaking,  was  suspended  and  the  first  coming  of  Euro- 
peans after  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  had  been  doubled. 
Within  less  than  twenty  years  from  the  time  when 
Columbus  made  his  first  voyage  across  the  Atlantic, 
bound,  as  he  thought,  for  Japan  and  probably  China, 
the  Portuguese  had  rounded  the  southern  extremity 
of  Africa  and  reached  the  Malaccas,  at  that  time  one 
of  the  many  far-outlying  tributaries  of  China.  Five 
years  later,  in  15 16  or  1517 — almost  four  hundred 
years  ago  —  they  arrived  at  Canton.  Proceeding  up 
the  coast  they  established  "factories,"  that  is,  trading 


l6  THE      COMING     CHINA 

establishments,  at  the  great  city  of  Ningpo,  in  Chekiang 
province,  and  at  the  smaller  seaport  of  Ch'uan-chow,  or 
Chin-chou,  in  Fuhkien  province.  Instead  of  living  up 
to  their  alleged  wish  of  engaging  in  friendly  commerce 
alone,  they  conducted  themselves  in  a  most  lawless 
manner  until  the  Chinese,  incensed  at  their  outrageous 
behaviour,  diametrically  opposed  to  what  the  natives 
knew  were  the  pretended  standards  of  "Christian" 
Europeans,  rose  in  their  wrath  and  attacked  the  "for- 
eign settlement"  at  Ningpo.  They  are  said  to  have 
killed  twelve  thousand  of  these  "Christians,"  including 
eight  hundred  natives  who  were  doubtless  pandering  to 
the  unlawful  strangers,  and  to  have  burnt  thirty-five 
foreign  ships  and  native  jimks.  The  particular  acts  of 
the  Portuguese  to  which  the  Chinese  took  such  righteous 
and  strenuous  exception  were  not  merely  that  these 
"peaceful  traders"  infested  the  entire  coast  of  China 
as  pirates,  seizing  inoffensive  trading  junks  and  looting 
towns  and  villages,  but  that  these  ghoulish  marauders 
made  a  raid  on  the  tombs  of  some  "Chinese  kings,"  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Ningpo,  for  the  purpose  of  rifling 
them  of  the  treasures  buried  therein.  Besides  these 
offensive  acts,  the  Portuguese  sallied  out  into  neigh- 
bouring villages  and  kidnapped  native  women  and  girls 
whom  they  compelled  to  yield  to  their  lust.  This 
attack,  and  the  consequent  expulsion  of  all  that  remained 
of  the  foreign  community,  took  place  in  1545,  and  four 
years  later,  upon  equally  just  provocation,  the  same 
thing  occurred  at  Ch'uan-chow;  and  thus,  because  of 
conduct  for  which  no  condemnation  could  have  been 
found  to  be  too  strong,  had  the  Chinese  themselves  been 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"         17 

the  offenders,  the  Portuguese  permanently  lost  their 
position  on  the  mainland  of  China.  Then,  for  the  first 
time,  they  took  possession  of  the  small,  almost  detached 
peninsula  known  as  Macao;  but  even  this  was  accom- 
plished by  a  contemptible  piece  of  deception.  Pretend- 
ing that  some  articles,  which  they  falsely  represented 
were  intended  to  be  offered  as  tribute  to  the  Emperor, 
had  been  injured  by  sea-water  during  a  storm,  and  that 
these  must  be  dried  and  prepared  afresh  before  presen- 
tation, they  secured  permission  to  erect  "sheds"  at 
Macao  for  that  purpose.  The  "sheds"  were  expanded 
into  residences,  offices,  and  all  other  needful  buildings 
for  a  permanent  settlement,  until  the  Portuguese  sub- 
sequently remained  as  tenants  of  the  place,  on  payment 
of  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  five  hundred  ounces  of  silver. 
Unable  to  expel  these  unwelcome  "tenants"  the  Chinese, 
in  self-defence,  tried  to  delimit  Macao  from  the  main- 
land by  putting  up  a  high,  strong  wall  across  the  narrow 
neck.  The  place  has  ever  since  remained  a  very  lawless 
and  turbulent  Portuguese  colony,  but  this  delimitation 
was  not  permanently  effected  until  a  few  years  ago. 

The  Spaniards  next  came  to  the  attention  of  the 
Chinese;  not  by  direct  communication  on  the  mainland, 
but  because  of  their  actions  in  the  Philippines.  The 
archipelago  was  seized  by  them  in  1543,  and  speedily 
the  officials  became  imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  large 
number  of  Chinese  settlers  were  a  menace  to  their  own 
safety.  The  Spaniards  thought  that  these  Chinese 
merchants,  market  gardeners,  pedlers,  and  cooHes  would, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  native  FiUpino  population, 
drive  them  from  the  islands.    Accordingly,  without  any 


l8  THECOMINGCHINA 

semblance  of  reasonable  provocation,  they  began  an 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  the  Chinese  which  lasted  for 
several  days,  until  practically  all  were  murdered.  A 
repetition  of  this  crime  took  place  sixty  years  later,  when, 
in  addition  to  the  former  apprehension,  the  Spanish 
ofl&cials  suspected  the  Chinese  of  being  in  league  with 
Koxinga,  who  wiU  be  described  in  the  paragraph  dealing 
with  the  British.  It  may  well  be  imagined  what  sort 
of  an  impression  these  subjects  of  the  most  Catholic 
sovereign  made  upon  the  Chinese  Government. 

When  the  Dutch  appeared  upon  the  scene  some  time 
after  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century,  they  at- 
tacked both  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  wherever  they 
found  their  vessels  in  circumstances  that  promised  easy 
victory.  They  assaulted  Macao  in  1623,  but  were 
repulsed  by  the  Portuguese  and  went  to  the  Pescadores, 
a  group  of  small  islands  now  belonging  to  Japan  be- 
tween the  southern  end  of  Formosa  and  the  continent. 
Here  they  built  a  fort,  compelling  the  Chinese  fishermen 
to  labour  for  them  without  making  adequate  compensa- 
tion, and  conducted  themselves  in  such  a  lawless  manner 
generally  as  to  justify  the  Chinese  in  looking  upon  them 
as  nothing  more  than  international  freebooters.  The 
Hollanders  do  not  appear  to  have  committed  any  serious 
overt  acts  upon  the  continent;  they  were  persuaded  by 
the  Chinese  to  leave  the  Pescadores  and  go  to  Formosa. 
They  were  driven  from  this  island  by  Koxinga  and  then 
tried  to  rehabilitate  themselves  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Chinese  by  performing  the  prostration  before  the  Em- 
peror known  as  "kaotao,"  literally  "three  times  kneeling 
and  nine  times  knocking";  that  is,  the  person  perform- 


o 

H 

E 
PI 

r 
o 
o 
7: 
o 
c 

•^ 
o 

S3 

D 
73 


CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE*        I9 

ing  this  abject  act  of  homage  and  ahnost  worship 
kneels  and  knocks  the  forehead  thrice  upon  the  ground 
or  floor,  then  rises  to  his  feet  and  again  repeats  the 
prostration  twice.  As  this  act  may  be  alluded  to  again, 
it  is  well  to  understand  how  debasing  it  is.  The  Dutch- 
men's effort  to  curry  favour  was  entirely  without  suc- 
cess; the  Chinese  officials  simply  jeered  at  them  and 
sarcastically  declared  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  talk 
of  "trade"  with  foreign  ambassadors  who  had  been 
received  in  audience  by  their  Imperial  master  or  his 
representative  for  such  ceremony. 

The  English  did  not  appear  upon  this  Far  Eastern 
scene  imtil  long  after  the  continentals  had  made  an 
imfavourable  impression  which  has  never  been  com- 
pletely effaced;  they  were  hotly  opposed  by  the  Portu- 
guese, who  represented  them  to  the  Chinese  as  "rogues, 
thieves,  and  beggars."  Because  of  some  crass  stupidity 
on  the  part  of  the  native  garrison,  or  possibly  through  a 
most  extraordinary  and  lamentable  misunderstanding, 
although  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  Portuguese  mis- 
representations were  at  the  bottom  of  it,  the  Chinese 
forts  on  the  river  near  Whampao  fired  upon  British 
ships  of  war  bearing  the  trade  commissioners;  but  after 
two  or  three  hours  bombardment,  the  forts  were  taken 
and  the  British  flag  raised  over  them.  This  in  itself 
was  not  an  act  to  inspire  the  Chinese  officials  with 
implicit  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  these  newcomers. 
Then  letters  were  sent  to  the  Viceroy  at  Canton  remon- 
strating against  the  unprovoked  assault  from  the  forts, 
explaining  the  capture,  and  asking  permission  to  trade. 
Careful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  primary  motive 


20  THE     COMING     CHINA 

of  this  visit  and  to  the  sequence  of  events,  because  the 
Chinese  have  their  own  version  of  this  "friendly"  effort 
to  inaugurate  commercial  intercourse  and  to  engage  in 
profitable  trading  operations;  that  differing  version  is 
not  entirely  without  reasonable  justification.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  England's  commercial  relations  with 
China.  In  1670  Great  Britain  made  a  treaty  with  the 
pirate  chieftain  Koxinga,  a  very  interesting  character, 
who  then  ruled  Formosa  as  an  absolute  monarch.  The 
Chinese  Government  had  not  recognized  him  in  any 
way,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  in  a  position 
to  punish  him;  therefore,  being  quite  imable  to  maintain 
its  own  prestige  on  the  island,  it  wisely  ignored  the  King 
of  Formosa,  as  the  British  dubbed  Koxinga.  This  was 
the  first  commercial  convention  entered  into  by  a  Euro- 
pean p>ower  with  a  Chinese  official  of  assimied,  if  not 
recognized,  authority,  and  it  is  peculiarly  interesting 
because  it  contained  a  distinct  provision  in  the  matter  of 
jurisdiction.  The  extra-territorial  clause  in  the  treaties 
made  between  Western  Powers  and  China  and  Japan 
has  always  been  galHng  to  the  governments  of  those 
nations,  however  reasonable  may  have  seemed  its  pro- 
visions in  times  past  when  there  was  no  legal  process  in 
either  China  or  Japan  which  secured  protection  for  the 
foreigner  in  Hfe  and  property.  Japan  speedily  began 
preparing  herself  to  show  that  this  extra-territorial 
jurisdiction  might  be  done  away  with  in  her  case,  by 
bringing  up  her  police  and  judicial  system  to  a  standard 
somewhat  comparable  with  those  of  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, and  by  framing  codes  that  guaranteed  protection 
to  aliens;  in  this  she  has  been  successful  and  the  extra- 


**CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"        21 

territorial  provision  disappeared  from  the  treaties  which 
became  operative  in  1899.  China,  too,  has  felt  the 
stigma  which  this  clause  puts  upon  her,  and  now  seeks 
to  have  it  expunged;  but  the  proper  compensating 
security  for  the  Uves  and  property  of  aliens  has  not  yet 
been  provided  —  even  Japan  refused  to  recognize  her 
neighbour  as  an  equal  in  this  respect.  In  that  conven- 
tion which  British  officials  made  with  Koxinga,  the  extra- 
territorial principle  was  clearly  provided  for,  the  *'King" 
undertaking  to  punish  all  wrongs  or  injuries  done  to  the 
British  by  his  "subjects"  and  the  residentBritish  officials 
obligating  themselves  to  do  the  same  to  their  nationals 
when  convicted  of  improper  act  towards  a  Formosan. 
It  is  certainly  not  easy  for  us  in  America  and  Europe 
to-day  to  understand  clearly  the  conditions  which  ex- 
isted in  China  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  The 
Manchus,  the  reigning  dynasty,  had  secured  do- 
minion over  the  whole  empire  without  much  effort, 
partly  because  of  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  native 
populace  with  the  upstart  Ming  Dynasty,  a  very  short- 
lived one  which  had  quickly  degenerated  into  sensuous 
uselessness  after  the  death  of  its  plebeian  founder,  and 
partly  because  of  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  anything 
Uke  a  true  native  dynasty  to  fight  for  its  rights,  had  it 
been  able  to  gain  the  support  of  the  apathetic,  peace- 
loving  Chinese.  The  Manchus  felt  that  they  were  aliens, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  have  never  yet  got  over 
that  feeling;  nor  have  they  ever  been  looked  upon  as 
anything  else  by  the  people  of  China  proper.  When 
the  nations  of  Europe  came  clamouring  for  privileges, 
"rights"  as  they  too  often  arrogantly  declared  them, 


22  THE     COMING     CHINA 

that  were  entirely  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  Eastern 
Asiatic  mind,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Manchus  were 
jealous  of  these  total  strangers,  even  less  familiar  to  the 
people  than  were  the  Eastern  usurpers  of  the  Chinese 
throne  then  attempting  to  rule  the  empire.  These 
Manchus  must  have  felt  that  intercourse  between  the 
"barbarians"  from  the  West  with  their  Chinese  subjects 
might  easily  bring  about  complications  which  would  add 
seriously  to  their  own  grave  burdens.  It  is  quite  con- 
ceivable that  they  considered  the  possibilities  of  success 
in  the  trading  operations  gaining  for  the  Europeans  the 
favour  of  the  Chinese  to  such  an  extent  as  to  bring  about 
a  coalition  which  would  be  fatal  to  themselves.  They 
were,  therefore,  reluctant  to  imperil  the  slender  strength 
of  their  hold  by  granting  trade  privileges  which  were 
regarded  by  them  with  comparative  indifference  per  se 
or,  more  probably,  with  absolute  detestation.  How  could 
they  imagine  what  awkward  complications  for  them- 
selves might  arise  if  these  Western  men,  equipped  with 
instruments  of  warfare  far  exceeding  in  power  the  native 
weapons,  and  possessing  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  war 
which  they  themselves  had  never  attained,  should  once 
establish  themselves  firmly  upon  Chinese  territory? 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  argued  that  this  hypothesis  is  alto- 
gether opposed  to  the  idea  of  that  superiority  over  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  in  everything  which  characterized 
the  Chinese  in  times  past;  but  it  is  beginning  to  be  more 
than  suspected  that  among  all  those  vain  officials  there 
were,  even  two  or  three  centuries  ago,  some  very  wise 
heads  who  realized  that  there  might  be  something  for 
China  to  learn  from  abroad. 


*'CHINA     FOR     THE     CHINESE"         23 

The  Chinese  officials  succeeded  for  a  while  in  keeping 
the  English  penned  up  in  their  factories  in  Canton,  where 
they  chafed  at  the  restrictions  of  the  local  authorities, 
who  successfully  deceived  the  merchants  and  common 
people  with  their  misstatements  as  to  the  moral  character 
of  the  strangers,  until  all  the  Chinese  looked  upon  the 
English  as  very  fiends  incarnate.  Lord  Napier  called 
the  Governor- General  of  the  two  "Kwang"  provinces, 
Kwang-timg  and  Kwang-si,  "a  presumptuous  heathen," 
in  one  of  his  despatches  to  the  British  Foreign  Office, 
declaring  that  he  was  guilty  of  the  basest  conduct  and 
cared  nothing  for  commerce  "so  long  as  he  received  his 
pay  and  his  plunder."  But  we  must  remember  that 
"commerce,"  in  the  opinion  of  these  Western  men  who 
pretended  to  wish  only  for  the  development  of  commer- 
cial  relations  with  China,  at  that  time  spelt  almost 
nothing  but  opium,  for  that  was  almost  the  only  import 
the  English  were  trying  vigorously  to  sell  the  Chinese. 
Opium  had  been  known  to  the  Chinese  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years  at  that  time,  and  undoubtedly  the 
"smoking  habit"  had  been  developed  long  before  the 
Europeans  sought  to  engage  in  the  business  upon  a 
large  scale  at  enormous  profit;  but  it  was  only  at  this 
time  that  the  government's  attention  was  seriously 
drawn  to  it.  In  1729  a  very  firm  edict  had  been  issued 
prohibiting  aU  dealings  in  the  drug;  ordering  the  sellers 
to  be  punished  with  the  "cangue,"  a  severe  form  of  the 
pillory,  only  the  victim  had  to  carry  his  broad  frame, 
through  which  his  head  was  poked,  on  his  own  shoulders; 
and  the  keeper  of  an  "opium  den"  was  to  be  imprisoned 
or,  it  might  be,  strangled.    All  persons  in  any  way 


24  THE     COMING     CHINA 

connected  with  the  importation,  carriage,  or  sale  of  the 
drug,  styled  "foreign  medicine,"  were  likewise  liable  to 
severe  pimishment.  It  must  be  remembered  that  there 
was,  at  that  time,  no  such  thing  as  a  treaty  "of  friend- 
ship and  commerce"  between  Great  Britain  and  China 
containing  that  objectionable  "extra-territorial  rights" 
clause;  consequently  China  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact  and 
according  to  international  law,  supreme  within  her  own 
domain,  having  made  a  law  governing  the  import,  sale, 
and  use  of  opium,  with  perfect  justice  she  could  claim 
the  right  to  punish,  in  her  own  way,  even  a  British  sub- 
ject who  deliberately  violated  that  law  on  Chinese  soil. 
But  this  view  of  the  case  was  not  concurred  in  by  the 
British  authorities.  Had  the  occasion  arisen  for  the  exer- 
cise of  the  perfectly  just  and  defensible  sovereign  right, 
and  a  British  subject  been  punished  for  breaking  the 
law,  just  as  many  Chinese  were,  we  can  imagine  the 
storm  that  would  have  followed;  insufficient  credit  has 
been  given  the  Chinese  officials  for  their  clemency  in 
this  matter. 

In  1 78 1  the  East  India  Company  took  charge  of  the 
production  of  opiimi  in  India,  although  after  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  not  carried  to  China  in 
the  Company's  ships;  this  being  done  by  "free,"  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  "monopoly,"  ships  flying  the  Brit- 
ish or  Portuguese  flag,  and  possibly  in  some  American 
bottoms,  notwithstanding  that  the  business  involved 
considerable  risk.  The  smuggling  of  opium  by  British 
subjects  led  to  war,  exceptions  having  been  taken  to 
what  were  called  "high-handed  acts"  of  Chinese  offi- 
cials; but  we  should,  in  justice  to  all  parties,  say  that 


''china     for    the     CHINESE  2$ 

conditions  were  so  anomalous  and  there  was  such  moral 
incapacity  on  each  side  to  see  from  the  other's  point  of 
view  that  an  armed  conflict  must  ere  long  have  taken 
place,  even  had  there  been  no  such  moving  cause  as 
opium.  After  the  very  brief  interval  of  "peace"  which 
followed  this  first  war,  an  accumulation  of  misunder- 
standings brought  on  another  conflict,  in  1842.  It  was 
at  about  this  time  that  Sir  Harry  Parkes  —  whose  statue 
now  ornaments  the  water  front  at  Shanghai  as  a  mark  of 
appreciation  for  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  trade !  —  declared 
that  he  mistrusted  all  Chinese  and  ''would  put  up  with 
no  nonsense  from  obtrusive  officials."  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  there  were  so  many  European  statesmen  of  this 
class  to  deal  with  the  deUcate  problems  in  China  half  a 
century  ago,  and  so  few  of  the  Lord  Elgin  type,  whose 
simple  rule  was  never  to  make  an  unjust  or  unreasonable 
demand  and  never  to  withdraw  a  demand  once  made. 
Even  in  those  early  days  this  method  appealed  to  the 
Chinese  officials  with  results  that  were  never  unsatis- 
factory, although  these  might  not  always  be  sufficient 
from  the  Chinese  standpoint.  In  1859,  just  before  the 
combined  EngHsh-French  expedition  which  captured 
Peking,  the  American  envoy,  Ward,  visited  the  Chinese 
capital,  but  refusing  to  perform  the  kaotao,  did  not  see 
the  Emperor,  and  failed  to  establish  his  position.  In 
March,  1861,  British  and  French  embassies  were  estab- 
lished in  Peking,  and  those  of  other  Powers  followed 
in  due  course.  Then  came  the  Taeping  Rebellion  and 
Gordon's  "  Ever- victorious  Army,"  and  after  a  long 
interval  the  ''Boxer"  troubles  of  1900.  From  this  very 
condensed  story  have  been  omitted  many  important 


26  THE    COMING    CHINA 

political  details,  reference  to  indemnities,  and  much  other 
matter  that  is  pretty  well  known;  but  we  now  anticipate 
a  little  and  properly  quote  Sir  Robert  Hart,  Commissioner- 
General  of  the  Chinese  Customs  Service.  In  1900  he 
represented  the  Chinese  as  saying,  "We  did  not  invite 
you  foreigners  here  —  you  crossed  the  seas  of  your  own 
accord  and  more  or  less  forced  yourselves  upon  us.  We 
generously  permitted  the  trade  you  were  at  first  satisfied 
with,  but  what  return  did  you  make?  To  the  trade  we 
sanctioned  you  added  opium  smuggling,  and  when  we 
tried  to  stop  it  you  made  war  on  us!  We  do  not  deny 
that  Chinese  consumers  kept  aUve  the  demand  for  the 
drug,  but  both  importation  and  consumption  were  illegal 
and  prohibited;  when  we  found  it  was  ruining  our  coun- 
try and  depleting  our  treasury,  we  vainly  attempted  to 
induce  you  to  abandon  the  trade,  and  we  had  then  to 
take  action  against  it  ourselves.  War  ensued;  but  we 
were  no  warriors,  and  you  won,  and  then  dictated 
treaties  which  gave  you  Hongkong  and  opened  several 
ports,  while  opium  still  remained  contraband.  Several 
years  of  peaceful  intercourse  followed  and  then  Hong- 
kong began  to  trouble  us.  It  was  originally  ceded  simply 
to  be  a  careening-place  for  ships,  but,  situated  on  the 
direct  route  to  the  new  ports,  it  grew  into  an  emporium ; 
and  being  also  close  to  our  coast  and  rivers,  it  became 
a  smuggUng  centre.  In  your  treaties  you  had  under- 
taken a  certain  control  of  any  junk  traffic  that  should 
spring  up,  but  when  that  traffic  became  considerable 
you  discontinued  the  promised  control,  and  our  revenue 
suffered. 

"Originally  uninhabited,  Hongkong  now  became  the 


*'CHINA    FOR    THE    CHINESE    '  27 

home  of  numerous  Chinese  settlers,  many  of  them  out- 
laws who  dared  not  live  on  the  mainland.  These  became 
British  subjects,  and  you  gave  the  British  flag  to  their 
jimks,  which  were  one  day  British  and  another  day 
Chinese,  just  as  it  suited  their  purpose;  and  out  of  this 
came  the  'Arrow'  war,  followed  by  new  treaties,  addi- 
tional ports,  legalized  opium,  and  fresh  stipulations,  in 
their  turn  the  cause  of  fresh  troubles.  Whether  it  was 
that  we  granted  you  privileges  or  that  you  exacted 
concessions,  you  have  treated  the  slightest  mistake  as 
violations  of  treaty  rights,  and  instead  of  showing 
yourselves  friendly  and  considerate,  you  insult  us  by 
charges  of  bad  faith  and  demand  reparation  and  indem- 
nities. Your  legalized  opium  has  been  a  curse  in  every 
province  into  which  it  penetrated,  and  your  refusal  to 
limit  or  decrease  the  import  has  forced  us  to  attempt 
a  dangerous  remedy;  we  have  legalized  the  cultivation 
of  native  opium,  not  because  we  approve  of  it,  but  to 
compete  with  and  drive  out  the  foreign  drug,  and  it  is 
expelling  it,  and  when  we  have  only  the  native  produc- 
tion to  deal  with,  and  thus  have  the  business  in  our  own 
hands,  we  hope  to  stop  the  habit  in  our  own  way.  Your 
missionaries  have  been  everywhere  teaching  good  les- 
sons and  benevolently  opening  hospitals  and  dispensing 
medicine  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  the  afficted;  but 
wherever  they  go,  trouble  goes  with  them,  and  instead 
of  the  welcome  their  good  intentions  merit,  localities 
and  officials  turn  against  them.  When  called  upon  to 
indemnify  them  for  losses,  we  find  to  our  astonishment 
that  it  is  the  exactions  of  would-be  millionnaires  we  have 
to  satisfy!    Your  people  are  everywhere   extra-terri- 


28  THE     COMING    CHINA 

torialized;  but  instead  of  a  grateful  return  for  this  ill- 
advised  stipulation,  they  appear  to  act  as  if  there  were 
no  laws  in  China,  and  this  encourages  native  lawless- 
ness and  makes  constant  difficulties  for  every  native 
official. 

"You  have  demanded  and  obtained  the  privilege  of 
trading  from  port  to  port  along  the  coast,  and  now  you 
wish  the  inland  waters  thrown  open  to  your  steamers. 
Your  newspapers  vilify  our  officials  and  our  government 
and,  translated  into  Chinese,  circulate  very  mischievous 
reading;  but  yet  they  have  their  uses,  for,  by  their 
threats  and  suggestions  they  warn  us  what  you  may  some 
day  do,  and  so  they  help  us  indirectly,  although  that  does 
not  conduce  to  mutual  respect  and  Uking.  All  these 
things  weaken  official  authority,  therefore  the  official 
world  is  against  you;  and  they  hurt  native  tradesmen, 
therefore  the  trading  classes  are  indignant.  What 
countries  give  ahens  the  extra-territorial  status?  What 
countries  allow  ah'ens  to  compete  in  their  coasting 
trade?  What  countries  throw  open  their  inland  waters 
to  other  flags?  And  yet  all  these  things  you  compel  us 
to  grant  you!  Why  can  you  not  treat  us  as  you  treat 
others?  Were  you  to  do  so,  you  would  find  us  friendly 
enough,  and  there  would  be  an  end  of  this  everlasting 
bickering  and  these  constantly  recurring  wars.  Really, 
you  are  too  short-sighted;  you  are  forcing  us  to  arm 
in  self-defence,  and  you  are  giving  us  grudges  to  pay  off 
instead  of  benefits  to  requite." 


CHAPTER  II 

WESTERN   ATTITUDE    IN    THE    PAST;    VIEWS    OF 
LEADING    CHINESE 

THERE  should  not  be  any  serious  concern  felt  in 
America  and  Europe  because  of  the  present  con- 
ditions in  China,  or  on  account  of  the  manifest  ambi- 
tion of  the  leaders  of  public  sentiment  there  to  sound 
the  call  of  "China  for  the  Chinese";  rather,  there  may 
well  be  a  sympathetic  effort  to  help  in  this  movement. 
But  caution  is  needed  lest  the  movement  be  diverted 
from  a  course  which  shall  make  for  the  good  of  many, 
into  a  channel  that  must  inevitably  lead  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  comparatively  few  who  seek  to  guide  the 
state  improperly  and  bring  disaster  to  all.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  the  intercourse  between  the  Chinese 
people  and  Europeans  and  Americans  —  that  is,  the 
relations  which  have  now  been  continued  for  the  past 
three  centuries  or  so  —  began  in  an  unfortunate  way. 
The  Chinese,  from  time  immemorial,  have  been  an  ex- 
ceptionally self-contained  people,  not  apparently  anxious 
to  deal  with  outside  peoples,  save  in  a  very  small  way  of 
trade  along  the  borders  of  their  own  country,  and  in 
the  matter  of  religion  to  have  had  some  intercourse 
with  India;  this  subject  will  be  discussed  later.  From 
this  isolation,  if  we  may  properly  use  the  word  in  this 

29 


30  THE    COMING    CHINA 

connection,  because  never  in  the  whole  narrative  of 
Chinese  history  would  it  be  literally  correct  to  do  so, 
came  a  somewhat  rude  awakening  when,  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  there  appeared  commercial 
men  from  the  West  who  insisted  upon  forcing  their  way 
into  China  and  in  estabHshing  themselves  at  certain 
ports  for  purposes  which  inured  to  their  own  benefit 
almost  exclusively.  In  the  preface  to  the  second  edi- 
tion of  Laurence  Oliphant's  "Narrative  of  the  Earl  of 
Elgin's  Mission  to  China  and  Japan,  1857,  '58,  '59," 
the  author  said:  "Those  who  are  conversant  with  the 
imscrupulous  character  of  a  certain  class  of  adventurer, 
who  are  imfortunately  generally  to  be  found  in  the  van 
of  mercantile  enterprise,  cannot  but  augur  the  worst 
consequences  from  their  contact  with  a  race  so  simple, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  vindictive,  as  the  Japanese." 
Changing  the  adjectives  so  as  satisfactorily  to  describe 
the  peaceful,  plodding,  suppressed  lower  classes  of 
China,  the  wily,  dextrous  Chinese  merchants,  and  the 
procrastinating,  unscrupulous  ofl&cials  of  that  country, 
these  words  might  very  well  have  been  applied  to  the 
Chinese,  apropos  their  relations  with  the  Western  peo- 
ples, from  a  time  long  before  Lord  Elgin  made  his  visit 
to  the  Far  East.  It  becomes  clear  as  we  read  the  many 
books  that  are  now  available  and  which  tell  us  of  the 
earUest  intercourse  between  Europeans  and  Chinese, 
that  there  was  always  too  great  a  disposition  to  "de- 
mand" rather  than  "insist  upon"  compliance  with 
privileges,  at  first,  and  treaty  obligations  later.  In 
other  words,  there  was  insufficient  knowledge  of  the 
Chinese  character,  and,  as  a  consequence,  Europeans 


VIEWS    OF    LEADING    CHINESE        31 

were  led  into  the  error,  not  an  unnatural  one  it  must  be 
admitted,  of  assuming  that  a  treaty,  when  signed  and 
duly  ratified  in  conformity  with  European  usage,  was 
absolutely  binding  upon  both  parties  thereto,  both 
officially  and  as  to  the  common  people  of  the  respective 
countries.  This,  we  must  bear  in  mind,  was  rarely, 
indeed  we  may  almost  say  never,  the  view  that  Chinese 
officials  in  those  remote  days  took  of  a  treaty;  as  to 
the  merchants  and  common  people,  they  had  no  more 
notion  of  what  a  treaty  was  than  an  Apache  Indian  has 
of  Sanskrit;  that  there  could  be  anything  in  an  agree- 
ment made  between  some  of  their  own  mandarins  and 
certain  objectionable,  intrusive  "barbarians"  which 
affected  themselves,  was  something  inconceivable.  A 
treaty  usually  meant,  to  these  mandarins,  a  sort  of  am- 
nesty which  brought  cessation  of  something  that  was 
momentarily  annoying.  A  Chinese  official,  writing  in 
London  recently  and  in  English,  has  said,  and  truth- 
fully, that  neither  the  acts  nor  the  omissions  of  the 
authorities  at  Peking  have  any  real  or  permanent  effect 
on  the  life  of  the  masses  in  China,  except  so  far  as  they 
register  the  movements  of  popular  sentiment  and 
demand.  Otherwise,  as  the  statesmen  and  peoples  of 
America  and  Europe  have  learnt  to  their  cost,  such 
treaties  and  conventions  remain  a  dead  letter.  The 
government  may  enter  into  such  obHgations,  but  it 
cannot  put  them  into  effect,  except  in  so  far  as  they  are 
endorsed  by  public  opinion.  The  passive  resistance  of 
so  vast  a  population,  rooted  in  a  tradition  so  immemo- 
rial, will  defeat  in  the  future,  as  it  has  done  in  the  past, 
the  attempts  of   the  Western  powers  to  impose  their 


32  THE     COMING    CHINA 

will  on  the  Chinese  nation  through  the  agency  of  the 
government.* 

It  is  true,  if  we  admit  the  correctness  that  no  people 
now  have  the  right  to  insist  upon  being  absolutely 
secluded  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  the  "  brother- 
hood" of  man  now  means,  among  other  things,  a  right 
to  come  and  go  with  reasonable  freedom,  yet  always 
respecting  the  laws  of  the  strange  land  into  which  we 
may  go,  then  the  closed  doors  of  China  had  to  be  opened, 
and  doubtless  this  could  not  be  done  by  any  ordinary, 
persuasive  measures;  such  would  probably  have  been 
met  by  stoHd  opposition  more  impregnable  than  the 
Great  Wall  of  China  itself.  There  had  to  be  "a  diplo- 
matic and  military  display"  if  an  entry  was  to  be 
effected;  yet  this  much  being  granted,  it  is  now  plain 
that  the  succeeding  attitude  of  the  Europeans  was  such 
as  not  to  impress  favourably  the  Chinese.  In  a  report 
of  a  conversation  between  Emperor  Hien-fung  and  Ki 
Shuh-tsan,  ex- Judge  of  Kwang-tung,  in  1851,!  there  is 
given  an  opinion  of  Western  people  which  shows  clearly 
what  effect  had  been  produced  upon  the  Chinese,  at 
that  time,  by  the  methods  of  the  foreign  visitors  and, 
naturally,  it  is  not  favourable:  "In  the  nature  of  bar- 
barians there  is  much  to  suspect.  .  .  .  The  other  tribes 
(that  is,  other  foreign  peoples)  are  jealous,  too,  of  the 
Enghsh  barbarians  for  having  carried  their  point 
(against  China)  and  so,  although  so  far  as  outward 
appearances  go,  they  trade  together  amicably,  each  party 

*  See  "Letters  from  a  Chinese  Official;  being  an  Eastern  View  of 
Western  Civilization."     New  York,  1904. 

t  See  Lord  Elgin's  "China  and  Japan,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  100  et  seq. 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE         33 

is,  in  fact,  considering  his  own  interests  and  no  cordial 
understanding  is  possible."  In  answer  to  the  question  by 
the  Emperor:  "How  is  it  that  the  nation  of  the  Flowery- 
Flag  (the  United  States  of  America)  is  rich  and  powerful 
and  yet  not  troublesome?"  came  a  statement  not  tended 
to  elevate  the  foreign  barbarians  very  high  in  the  esti- 
mation of  Chinese  rulers:  "As  a  general  rule,  the  outer 
barbarians  trade  because  their  nature  is  covetous.  If 
one  of  them  breaks  the  peace  (makes  trouble  with  China), 
the  prosperity  of  the  others'  trade  is  marred.  Thus 
the  English  are  at  this  moment  beggared  (and,  therefore, 
not  Hkely  to  go  to  war) ;  but  if  they  were  to  break  the 
peace,  it  is  not  on  their  own  trade  alone  that  injury 
would  be  inflicted;  other  nations  are  therefore  certain 
to  object  to  any  outrageous  proceedings  on  their  part. 
Were  they  to  commence  a  disturbance  the  Americans 
would  certainly  be  the  last  to  assist  them."  "Why 
would  not  the  Americans  assist  them?"  "Your  servant 
has  been  told  that  the  Americans  have  business  relations 
of  great  importance  with  Wu  Sung-yan  (How-qua, 
formerly  a  hong  merchant  of  Quang-tung) ;  indeed,  they 
have  had  money  of  Wu.  Every  movement  of  the  Eng- 
lish barbarians  is  certain  to  be  privately  communicated 
to  the  family  of  Wu  by  the  Americans,  and  Wu  Sung- 
yan  thereupon  makes  his  private  reports  to  Sen  and 
Yeh  (Governor-General  and  Governor  of  Kwang-tung 
province,  who  also  bribed  the  foreigners'  interpreters  to 
furnish  them  privately  with  full  reports  of  everything 
that  went  on),  who  take  precautionary  measures  accord- 
ingly. Thus,  last  year,  it  was  by  a  communication 
from  the  Americans  that  it  was  known  that  a  man-of- 


34  THE    COMING    CHINA 

war  of  the  English  barbarians  was  coming  to  Tientsin 
(the  Peiho).  Not  that  this  shows  any  sincere  friendship 
for  us  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  it  was  simply  that 
their  desire  for  gain  is  strong,  and  that  they  were  afraid 
that  their  trade  would  be  disturbed  by  (the  act  of)  the 
English."  The  remainder  of  this  most  curious  and 
interesting  document  may  be  found  in  the  official  report 
of  the  expedition,  published  as  a  ParHamentary  Blue 
Book,  which  may  be  procured  with  some  Httle  trouble; 
this  extract  is  inserted  here  to  show,  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  the  position  which  foreigners  then  held  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Chinese  authorities,  and  the  views  by  which 
those  officials,  as  well  as  the  merchants,  were  influenced 
in  their  deaUngs  with  the  strangers  from  the  West. 

From  this  and  much  other  similar  evidence,  we  are 
compelled  to  infer  that  the  reasons  which  led  the  Euro- 
peans in  the  sixteenth  and  later  centuries  to  make  their 
way  into  China  were  not  such  as  to  appeal  to  the  respect 
of  the  Chinese  officials,  and  that  their  methods  were  not 
precisely  those  which  make  for  good.  This  is  not  the 
place  to  discuss  the  efforts  of  the  Protestant  Christian 
missionaries  along  totally  different  lines;  these  met  with 
equally  violent  opposition,  yet  of  a  different  nature,  and 
this  subject  will  be  one  of  the  topics  of  a  later  chapter. 
What  is  now  evident  is  that  the  motive  of  Americans 
and  Europeans,  a  century  ago,  was  not  one  of  disinter- 
ested friendship  and  that  their  relations,  the  one  against 
the  others,  were  not  tended  to  inspire  respect.  Their 
antipathy  to  Chinese  methods  in  diplomacy,  commerce, 
and  every  other  way,  without  duly  considering  the  ages 
of  that  civilization  —  so  different  from  their  own,  to  be 


Temple  at  Loong-wha 


LooNG-wiiA  Pagoda 


VIEWS     OF    LEADING    CHINESE        35 

sure  —  which  were  back  of  it  and  were  its  reasonable 
inspiration,  was  most  unfortunately  harsh  and  unsym- 
pathetic; their  sole  desire,  so  far  as  the  Chinese  them- 
selves could  judge,  was  to  exploit  China  for  their  own 
sordid,  selfish  benefit.  The  very  beginning  of  this 
modern  trade  between  Europeans  and  Chinese  brought 
with  it  the  curse  of  opium,  a  business  which  has  been  so 
fearlessly  exposed*  that,  after  what  has  been  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  no  more  need  be  said  here; 
our  duty  in  this  matter  will  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter. 
In  later  years  we  Americans  cannot  evade  the  charge 
of  unfriendliness  that  the  Chinese  have  made  because 
of  our  attitude  towards  Asiatic  labourers.  The  writer 
speaks  from  actual  knowledge  when  he  says  that  the 
principles  expressed  in  our  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  those  of  our  Constitution  were  well  known  to  many 
of  the  Chinese  literati  half  a  century  ago,  and  it  is  just 
such  men  who  contend  that  our  subsequent  exclusion 
bills  stultified  ourselves.  While  there  was  pressing  need 
for  labour  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  while  the  calls  of 
the  contractors  for  the  Panama  Railway,  as  well  as  the 
early  development  of  various  industries  in  the  Western 
states  and  territories,  could  not  be  satisfied  with 
"white"  labourers,  the  Chinese  cooUes  were  made  wel- 
come; but  so  soon  as  there  appeared  to  be  even  a  slight 
indication  that  some  of  those  Asiatic  workmen  entered 
into  competition  with  miscalled  Americans,  there  arose 
a  cry  for  exclusion  that  was  too  insistent  for  politicians 
to  neglect,  even  after  it  was  shown  that  some  of  those 

*"  Drugging  a  Nation:  The  Story  of  China  and  the  Opium  Curse," 
by  Samuel  Merwin. 


36  THE    COMING    CHINA 

very  "sand-lot"  leaders  were  employing  Chinese  as 
domestic  servants.  The  yielding  to  this  demagogic 
clamour  did  not  make  a  favourable  impression  upon  the 
better-class  Chinese,  and  it  did  cause  unfriendliness 
among  those  of  the  coolie  class  who  had  learnt  of  advan- 
tages gained  in  the  golden  land  by  some  of  their  friends, 
and  now  found  themselves  debarred  from  sharing  in  those 
good  fortunes.  It  is  not  here  contended  that  there  was 
absolutely  no  justification  for  the  exclusion  legislation; 
such  a  kindly  disposed  stranger  as  the  Right  Honorable 
James  Bryce,  the  British  Ambassador,  in  the  recent 
revised  and  expanded  edition  of  his  magnificent  work, 
"The  American  Commonwealth,"  voices  the  sentiment 
of  many  when  he  says:  "As  a  separately  organized 
faction  seeking  to  capture  the  Federal  Government,  it 
[a  small,  independent  party]  could  not  succeed  against 
the  national  parties,  because  the  Union  as  a  whole  is  so 
vast  that  it  would  be  outvoted  by  one  or  other  of  them. 
But  if  it  is  content  to  remain  a  mere  opinion  or  demand, 
not  attacking  either  national  party,  but  willing  to  bestow 
the  votes  it  can  control  on  whichsoever  will  meet  its 
wishes,  it  is  powerful,  because  the  two  great  parties  will 
bid  against  each  other  for  its  support  by  flatteries  and 
concessions.  For  instance,  the  question  which  has  in- 
terested the  masses  on  the  Pacific  Coast  is  that  of  exclud- 
ing Chinese  immigrants  and  latterly  Japanese  also, 
because  they  compete  with  the  whites  and  bring  down 
wages.  Now,  if  the  'anti-Mongolians'  of  California, 
Washington,  and  Oregon  were  to  create  a  national  party, 
based  on  this  particular  issue,  it  would  be  insignificant, 
for   they  would   have   little   support  over   five   sixths 


VIEWS    OF    LEADING    CHINESE        37 

of  the  Union.  But,  by  showing  that  the  attitude  of 
the  two  great  parties  on  this  issue  will  determine 
their  own  attitude  towards  those  parties,  they  control 
both,  for  each  desires  to  secure  the  vote  of  California, 
Washington,  and  Oregon;  each  vies  with  the  other  in 
promising  and  voting  for  anti-Asiatic  legislation.  .  .  . 
In  the  Pacific  states  the  feeling  against  the  Chinese, 
who  took  lower  wages,  often  one  half  of  what  whites 
obtain,  was  for  a  time  not  merely  the  prime  factor  in 
Califomian  state  politics,  but  induced  the  [United 
States]  Senate  to  ratify  treaties  and  Congress  to  pass 
acts,  the  last  one  extremely  stringent,  prohibiting  their 
entry.  ...  Of  the  East  Asiatic  races  that  have  entered 
the  United  States  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the  continent, 
it  has  not  been  necessary  to  speak  in  this  chapter,  be- 
cause their  immigration  has  been  stopped.  Statutes 
passed  at  the  urgent  instance  of  Californian  working- 
men,  who  disliked  the  competition  of  Chinese  coolies, 
exclude  all  Chinese,  except  persons  of  the  educated 
classes,  such  as  merchants,  students,  and  travellers  for 
pleasure;  while  under  an  arrangement  made  with  the 
Japanese  Government  in  1908,  the  influx  of  Japanese 
labourers,  which  was  increasing  rapidly,  has  also  been 
stopped.  In  1900  there  were  in  the  United  States 
81,000  foreign-born  Chinese,  and  it  is  possible  that  the 
number  may  increase  slightly  by  illicit  importations  on 
the  frontiers  of  Mexico  and  Canada.  In  1908  there 
were  more  than  150,000  Japanese;  but  since  then  many 
have  departed  and  scarce  any  have  arrived.  Neither 
they,  nor  Chinese,  nor  Malays,  nor  Hindus,  can  be 
naturalized,  but  the  children  of  those  races  bom  in  the 


38  THE    COMING    CHINA 

United  States,  are  born  citizens  and  may  vote,  if  registered, 
so  any  large  addition  to  their  numbers  is  all  the  more 
deprecated.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  they  remain 
quite  distinct  from  the  white  inhabitants.  The  feeling 
against  the  entrance  of  the  yellow  races,  less  strong 
against  the  Chinese  than  it  was  in  1880,  and  quaHfied 
among  the  employers  by  the  desire  to  have  plenty  of 
steady  labour,  is  still  strong  enough  to  maintain  the 
policy  of  exclusion,  and  does  not  seem  likely  to  disappear 
in  any  period  which  can  at  present  be  foreseen.  A  like 
feehng  exists  in  Australia,  and  has  there  dictated  an 
even  more  rigid  warning  off  of  all  Asiatics.  The  humani- 
tarian sentiment  towards  other  races,  which  was  so 
strong  in  the  middle  of  last  century,  has  visibly  declined. 
No  one,  except  a  fruit  grower  who  wants  Japanese  labour 
for  his  orchards,  openly  complains  of  the  exclusion,  or 
a  well-to-do  householder  who  suffers  from  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  domestic  service,  which  while  great  every- 
where is  greatest  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  all  too 
frequent  outrages  perpetrated  by  whites  upon  men  of 
a  different  colour  excite  less  censure  than  they  would 
have  done  in  the  last  generation." 

But  as  a  matter  of  principle,  it  is  asking  too  much  to 
expect  the  Chinese  people  to  regard  those  extreme  ex- 
clusion measures  as  anything  but  unfriendly  towards 
themselves,  and  the  inevitable  effect  was  to  arouse  some- 
what of  a  similar  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  presence 
of  Americans  in  their  own  land.  We  know  only  too 
well  that  this  opposition  has  occasionally  blazed  up  in 
ways  that  were  exceedingly  threatening;  for  example, 
the  boycott,  in  the  Shanghai  and  Yangtze  districts  a 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        39 

few  years  ago;  and  we  know,  too,  that  these  conflagra- 
tions have  been  extinguished  only  with  the  aid  and 
cooperation  with  us  of  the  Chinese  authorities.  Still, 
a  faithful  exposition  of  facts,  as  they  appeal  to  an  experi- 
enced observer,  demands  the  statement  that  many 
Chinese  officials,  merchants,  even  labourers,  too,  looked 
past  the  act  of  legislators  in  framing  bills  inimical  to 
their  countrymen  and  saw  the  spirit  which  inspired  the 
legislation;  these  men  wilHngly  absolve  the  true  Ameri- 
cans —  who  are  the  living  representatives  of  half  a 
dozen  or  more  generations  in  the  United  States  —  from 
all  intention  to  exclude  them  from  America  unfairly. 
These  Chinese  hold  the  newly  made  "citizen,"  imported 
through  the  eastern  gates  of  the  United  States  too  often 
from  the  worst  corners  of  Europe,  responsible  for  the 
stigma  put  upon  themselves  or  their  fellow-countrymen. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in 
this  opinion.  The  better  classes  of  Americans  feel 
strong  in  their  superiority;  they  instinctively  believe 
that  their  civiHzation  is  not  built  upon  such  a  weak  and 
unstable  foundation  that  it  cannot  withstand  the  shock 
of  the  "ways  that  are  dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain"  of 
the  "pecuHar  Chinese";  but  they  are  willing  to  see 
their  civiHzation  go  down,  as  not  fit  to  survive,  if  it  is 
made  of  such  feeble  stuff  as  to  be  overwhelmed  by  the 
Asiatic.  Such  Americans  very  properly  ask  why  the 
civilization  with  which  their  own  is  allied  has  not  suc- 
cumbed to  the  contact  with  Asiatics  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  if  there  is  so  much  to  dread  from  the  incoming 
of  the  Chinese?  If  the  answer  is  made  that  the  standards 
of  Hving  and  of  wages  are  higher  in  this  country  than 


40  THE    COMING    CHINA 

elsewhere,  the  reply  is  that  eventually  conditions  of  life, 
wages,  and  all  such  things  in  these  United  States  must 
adjust  themselves  to  the  standards  of  the  great  world, 
or  we  must  put  ourselves  in  the  untenable  position  of 
being  more  exclusive  than  even  the  Chinese  people  ever 
dreamt  of  being. 

Nearly  half  a  century  ago  the  writer  made  the  ac- 
quaintance in  China  of  a  native  "first-class  interpreter" 
in  the  Chinese  Customs  Service,  a  position  which  in 
itself  connotes  more  than  ordinary  parts.  This  man 
had  travelled  over  pretty  nearly  the  whole  of  his  native 
country,  in  India,  and  widely  over  Europe.  He  had 
been  graduated  from  Oxford  with  honours,  when  it 
was  not  considered  as  quite  the  graceful  thing  to  do,  by 
the  Universities  of  Europe  and  America,  to  be  lenient 
in  the  matter  of  qualifications  in  bestowing  degrees  upon 
interesting  and  attractive  Asiatics;  as  has  since  become 
a  rather  foolish  fashion.  Mr.  Weng  had  his  M.A.  for 
actual  merit;  he  was  truly  well  educated;  he  spoke  and 
wrote  EngHsh  just  as  we  do,  without  a  trace  of  that 
precision  which  sometimes  betrays  the  stranger  and 
equally  without  any  of  the  "slang"  that  is  too  often 
affected  by  many.  His  reading  was  most  catholic  and 
the  good  use  he  had  made  of  his  opportunities  for  observ- 
ing men  and  customs  was  remarkable.  In  many  con- 
versations with  him  he  always  declared  stoutly  that 
he  could  never  wish  to  become  anything  but  what  he 
was,  a  true,  loyal,  and  patriotic  Chinese;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  said  he  could  not  respect  a  Western  man 
who  would  give  up  his  birthright  to  become  a  Chi- 
nese subject.     He  admired  much  that  he  had  seen  in 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING    CHINESE        41 

Europe,  particularly  the  stable  form  of  representative 
government  in  England,  and  that,  he  said,  was  some- 
thing his  own  people  must  eventually  imitate,  if  China 
was  ever  to  take  the  place  among  the  advanced  powers 
of  the  world  to  which  her  history,  her  civiKzation,  and 
the  inherent  worth  of  her  people  gave  her  a  right  to  aspire. 
The  sense  of  his  many  expressions  was  this:  ''When 
the  time  comes  —  and  it  will  come  before  long  —  for 
China  to  assert  herself,  you  will  see  that  she  has  learnt 
well  the  lessons  the  Europeans  and  Americans  have 
forced  her  to  study.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  I  think 
my  people  will  ever  requite  your  harshness  and  unfair- 
ness in  kind;  but  you  must  see  that  it  is  going  to  take 
a  very  long  time  to  efface  the  resentment  caused  by 
the  exactions  Western  people  have  demanded  in  trading 
rights,  residential  privileges,  the  unjust  acquisition  of 
territory,  the  improper  exacting  of  indemnities,  and  all 
sorts  of  punishments  for  mistakes  (crimes,  if  you  Hke!) 
for  which  we  were  not  originally  alone  responsible. 
Those  crimes  and  mistakes  came  about  because  you 
foreigners  insisted  upon  our  giving  what  we  did  not  wish 
to  give,  and  something  that  we  did  not  understand; 
for  'foreign  commerce,'  as  you  interpreted  the  words, 
is  a  very  different  thing  from  what  we  understand  it  to 
be ;  you  make  it  absolutely  selfish,  we  think  the  benefits 
should  be  shared  about  equally  between  the  two  parties 
engaged  in  it.  Strictly  speaking,  the  Europeans  who 
came  here  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago  did  not  '  open ' 
China,  for  ours  had  never  been  a  'closed'  country.  We 
had  sent  our  ships  far  away  from  home  long  before  that; 
and  we  had  given  every  reasonable  facility  to  trading 


42  THE     COMING     CHINA 

vessels  from  the  West,  long  before  those  comparatively 
newcomers  arrived,  and  we  had  no  serious  trouble  with 
those  eariier  merchants.  It  is  true  that  they  sometimes 
behaved  in  a  way  that  utteriy  shocked  our  sense  of 
propriety  and  our  people  treated  them  as  they  richly 
deserved;  but  there  were  no  such  'indemnities'  exacted 
as  your  friends  have  demanded  for  much  less !  I  believe 
the  time  will  come  for  us  to  requite  those  injustices, 
and  then  you  will  see.  For  myself,  I  think  we  must 
have  some  very  important  changes  in  our  system  of 
government;  we  can  not  altogether  adopt  the  British 
form  of  constitutional  government;  that  would  be  too 
radical,  I  fear;  and  as  for  your  American  republican 
form,  that  is  simply  impossible.  We  must  do  away  with 
our  Hterary  examinations  and  the  giving  of  appoint- 
ments in  the  army,  navy,  and  civil  service  simply  because 
of  the  candidates'  knowledge  of  our  ancient  classics  and 
their  ability  to  write  a  pedantic,  flowery  essay  yards  long 
upon  some  absurd,  academic  topic.  There  must  be 
substituted  an  education  that  is  liberal,  and  technical 
training  must  be  fitting  for  every  department.  These 
things  may  be  attempted  gradually,  and  when  they  are 
accomplished  we  shall  be  ready  to  assert  ourselves;  to 
demand  the  doing  away  of  the  degrading  extra-territorial 
clause  in  our  treaties  with  you  foreigners  which  now 
makes  you  supreme  on  Chinese  soil,  where  we  ought  to 
be  alone  in  all  matters.  I  am  connected  with  our  cus- 
toms Service,  and  you  know  that  I  am  subordinate  to 
a  foreign  Commissioner  who  is  the  head  of  the  staff; 
with  me  are  associated  several  foreigners,  as  assistant 
interpreters  and  clerks.     Why?    Because  you  claim  that 


Two  Modes  of  Con\'eyance 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE         43 

we  Chinese  are  not  to  be  trusted  to  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  service,  and  you  pretend  to  think  we  may  squander 
or  steal  the  revenues,  upon  which  you  have  a  lien  to 
provide  payment  of  those  indemnities  you  have  extorted 
from  us.  I  am  ashamed  to  say  you  have  some  ground 
for  your  want  of  confidence,  but  we  are  learning  some- 
thing of  the  necessity  for  an  honest  civil  service,  and  it 
will  come;  when  we  shall  have  paid  off  our  obligations 
to  you  we  shall  not  tolerate  tliis  big,  highly  paid  staff 
of  foreign  employees.  You  know  what  I  think  of  the 
accursed  opium  traffic,  and  who  are,  in  my  opinion,  re- 
sponsible for  it,  and  my  opinions  are  those  of  every  right- 
minded  Chinese  —  even  those  who  are  wretched  victims 
of  the  smoking  habit.  Just  how  we  are  to  get  rid  of 
the  curse  and  stop  the  importation  of  the  drug,  I  do  not 
know,  but  we  must  do  it  if  China  is  ever  to  regain  her 
self-respect.  I  am  very  sure  we  cannot  count  on  help 
from  any  foreigners  except  a  handful  of  merchants  and, 
of  course,  all  the  Christian  missionaries;  but  what  can 
they  do  against  the  combination  of  the  rich  Parsee  im- 
porters at  Hongkong,  the  scores  of  European  firms  at 
the  ports,  and  the  thousands  of  Chinese  distributers? 
Until  the  British  Government  does  something  to  stop 
the  cultivation  in  India  and  the  export  thence  to  China, 
we  are  almost  helpless." 

Every  one  having  the  slightest  knowledge  of  Chinese 
affairs  from  actual  observation  on  the  ground,  and  all 
who  have  had  the  opportunity  to  talk  with  intelligent 
Chinese  at  any  time  since  the  first  demand  for  reparation 
was  made  and  complied  with  from  sheer  physical  inabil- 
ity to  resist,  must  admit  that  these  sentiments  are  pre- 


44  THE    COMING    CHINA 

cisely  what  thousands  have  expressed.  As  to  the  stigma 
put  upon  the  Chinese  officials  by  taking  control  of  the 
customs  service,  equally  many  natives  have  had  the 
same  thing  to  say;  and,  too,  all  whose  utterances  were 
entitled  to  the  least  respectful  consideration  have  agreed 
with  Weng  as  to  the  slender  justification  Europeans  have 
had  for  insisting  upon  this  control,  in  the  laches  of  many 
mandarins  into  whose  hands  pubHc  funds  have  been 
entrusted  but  through  whose  hands  but  little  of  the 
money  has  passed  into  the  national  funds  or  for  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  was  appropriated.  Yet  always,  when 
this  admission  has  been  made  with  manifest  shame  and 
mortification,  there  has  followed  the  declaration  that 
the  change  in  the  method  of  educating  and  training 
public  servants,  which  had  been  recognized  as  an  impera- 
tive necessity  by  one  or  two  many  years  ago,  and  by 
yearly  increasing  numbers  of  late,  will  correct  this. 
There  can  be  no  justification  for  dishonesty  in  handling 
public  funds;  there  should  be  no  condoning  such  a 
crime;  and  yet  when  we  think  of  what  education  in 
China  meant  until  a  few  years  ago,  the  frightful  burden 
it  put  too  often  upon  those  who  could  hardly  bear  it, 
the  sacrifices  cheerfully  borne  by  impoverished  fathers 
or  widowed  mothers  to  gain  for  a  son  the  education 
needed  to  pass  the  examinations,  we  can  almost  bring 
ourselves  to  look  forgivingly  upon  the  misappropriation, 
to  requite  those  who  suffered,  as  most  of  the  Chinese  do. 
Let  us  stop  for  a  moment  to  consider  what  education 
sufficient  to  gain  for  a  young  man  a  position  in  the  civil 
service  meant,  and  in  some  cases  entailed.  We  speak  now, 
of  course, of  the  old  system;  the  new  one  that  is  gradually, 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        45 

and  it  is  believed  successfully,  supplanting  it  will  be 
alluded  to  in  the  proper  place  hereafter.  The  merest 
outline  must  suffice  here,  because  those  who  wish  for 
full  information  will  find  it  in  almost  any  of  the  books 
that  deal  with  Chinese  sociology.  There  was,  and  there 
is,  nothing  exclusive  about  education  in  China;  as  the 
Chinese  official,  whose  Kttle  volume  of  letters  has  been 
mentioned*  says:  "In  China,  for  many  centuries  past, 
there  has  been  a  class  of  men  set  apart  from  the  first  to 
the  pursuit  of  Hberal  arts,  and  destined  to  the  functions 
of  government.  These  men  form  no  hereditary  caste; 
it  is  open  to  any  one  to  join  them  who  possessed  the  requi- 
site talent  and  incHnations ;  and  in  this  respect  our  society 
has  long  been  the  most  democratic  in  the  world.  The 
education  to  which  we  subject  this  official  class  is  a 
matter  of  frequent  and  adverse  comment  among  you, 
and  it  is  not  my  intention  here  to  undertake  their  defence. 
What  I  wish  to  point  out  is  the  fact  that,  by  virtue  of  this 
institution,  we  have  inculcated  and  we  maintain  among 
our  people  of  all  classes  a  respect  for  the  things  of  the 
mind  and  of  the  spirit,  to  which  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
a  parallel  in  Europe,  and  of  wliich,  in  particular,  there 
is  no  trace  in  England."  To  every  and  any  lad  of  respect- 
able parentage,  no  matter  what  his  social  position  or 
degradation  might  be,  the  opportunity  was  given  freely 
to  demand  that  his  name  be  enrolled  among  the  can- 
didates for  the  first  Hterary  examination.  But  before 
doing  this,  he  had,  as  a  boy,  to  commit  to  memory, 
parrot-like,  the  whole  of  the  Confucian  Classics,  and 
Httle  but  these  classics  with  the  commentaries  and  other 
*  Footnote.     See  p.  32. 


46  THE     COMING    CHINA 

works  upon  them.  At  first  this  was  simply  a  tremen- 
dous, and  to  our  mind  an  appalling,  feat  of  memory; 
because  the  meaning  of  the  ideographs  that  were  strung 
together  in  the  text  was  not  imparted  to  the  boys  by 
the  teacher;  this  exposition,  with  appropriate  discussion 
according  to  the  master's  ability,  came  later.  When 
the  young  man  was  anywhere  from  sixteen  years  of  age 
upwards,  he  might  be  expected  to  be  prepared  for  the 
first  examination,  held  in  his  own  district.  All  who 
attained  the  standard  fixed  by  the  government  examiners 
were  given  the  first  hterary  title,  Hsiu-ts'ai,  "Flourishing 
Talent,"or  "Budding  Genius."  The  tests  applied  were: 
evidence  of  a  thorough  general  knowledge  of  the  Classics, 
an  ability  to  discuss  the  given  topic,  which  was  almost 
invariably  what  we  should  call  "a  catch  question,"  in  a 
recondite  manner;  flowery  language;  pedantic  rounding 
of  periods;  style;  and  beauty  of  the  print-like  penman- 
ship. We  might,  in  a  rough  sort  of  way,  call  this  first 
title  the  equivalent  of  our  Bachelor  of  Arts.  It  has  been 
most  appositely  said  that  those  former  examinations  in 
China  were  not  very  unlike  the  classical  examinations 
at  the  English  universities  during  a  time  not  very  far 
removed  from  our  own  days;  only  it  must  be  said,  to 
the  credit  of  those  older  English  universities,  that  there 
was  at  least  a  smattering  of  logic,  philosophy,  and  mathe- 
matics in  the  examination  papers;  whereas  in  China 
there  was  absolutely  nothing  but  the  Classics,  and  even 
from  these  no  practical  deductions  were  drawn.  A 
year  or  two  later,  usually  in  a  provincial  or  prefectural 
capital,  these  "Budding  Geniuses"  were  permitted  to 
enter  for  the  next  examination ;  the  topic  was  even  more 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        47 

"catchy"  than  before;  the  tests  were  more  strictly 
applied;  and  the  few  successful  men  were  designated 
Chu-jen,  "Selected  Man,"  or  Master  of  Arts.  Next, 
at  a  place  somewhat  remote  from  home,  the  Chu-jen 
were  examined  and,  if  successful,  became  Chin-shih, 
"Entered  Scholars,"  Doctors  of  Literature  (?);  they 
were  now  deemed  ready  to  take  upon  themselves  the 
duties  of  any  official  position  which  could  be  found  or 
made  for  them;  it  might  be  at  court,  as  civil  magistrate 
and  police  judge  in  any  part  of  the  country,  or  as  officers 
of  the  army!  Technical  ability  was  not  considered 
essential;  the  judge  might  know  nothing  of  law,  the 
army  officer  be  ignorant  of  tactics;  these  shortcomings 
were  amply  compensated  for  by  ability  to  expound  the 
Classics.  These  mandarins,  using  a  popular  word, 
although  not  Chinese,  continued  to  study  diligently, 
now  devoting  much  time  to  the  exegesis  of  the  Confucian 
Classics;  and  they  were,  in  due  time,  called  to  Peking, 
where  they  were  examined,  in  fact  or  at  least  nominally, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  himself,  and  the  few 
successful  ones  became  Hsia  Yiian,  "Literary  Chan- 
cellor (?),"  and  members  of  the  famous  HanHn  College. 
Once  in  three  years  these  members  of  the  Hanlin, 
"Forest  of  Pencils  "  (the  pencil  or  brush  which  is  used 
in  writing  Chinese  being  considered  the  mark  of  a  scholar), 
were  subjected  to  the  most  searching  and  rigourous  ex- 
amination that  the  wit,  pedantry,  and  Classic-worship 
of  the  Chinese  mind  could  devise,  and  to  just  one  was 
given  the  title  of  Chuang  Tuan,  for  which  we  simply 
have  no  EngKsh  equivalent  that  conveys  to  our  minds 
the  precise  meaning  this  superlative  degree  has  in  China : 


48  THE     COMING     CHINA 

it  so  completely  embodies  all  that  is  lofty  in  mental 
attainment  that  just  one  man  of  the  millions  in  China 
is  found  worthy  to  receive  it,  and  that,  too,  but  once  in 
three  years! 

We  should  remember  that  many  long  years  must  have 
passed  since  the  boy  entered  his  first  school,  at  five  or 
six  years  of  age,  until  he  became  a  Cliin-shih,  when  he 
might  be  given  an  official  position  which  carried  a  small 
salary,  if  he  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  favour  in  the 
eyes  of  the  government  officials,  or  if  exceptional  in- 
fluence could  be  exerted  in  his  behalf;  because  there 
were  never  enough  vacant  offices  to  give  all  the  "Entered 
Scholars"  remunerative  posts,  and  "pull"  was  quite  as 
potent  in  China  as  anywhere  else.  During  all  this  time 
the  student's  expenses  were  heavy,  even  in  China  where 
standards  of  hving  were,  and  are,  almost  ridiculously 
low  and  not  exacting;  but  the  boy,  the  lad,  the  young 
man,  must  eat  and  have  a  bed  and  a  room  to  study  in; 
he  must  have  clothing  suited  to  his  position  and  aspira- 
tions, and  must  always  present  a  respectable  appearance ; 
he  required  books,  stationery,  and  many  other  things. 
If  born  in  fortunate  circumstances,  the  burden  was  not 
unbearable;  but  since  it  was  the  ambition  of  well-nigh 
every  family  in  the  land,  even  the  beggars  almost,  to 
have  a  son  among  the  Hterati,  there  are  to  be  found  in 
Chinese  history  and  folk-lore  tales  of  the  most  heart- 
breaking self-denial  and  privations,  borne  by  sometimes 
one,  sometimes  by  many,  to  let  the  lad  of  promising 
»  genius  have  the  chance  to  pass  the  examinations.  By 
the  pecuKar  views  of  the  Chinese  as  to  relationship  and 
ancestral  connection,  success,  if  it  did  not  immediately 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        49 

bring  pecuniary  reward,  would  reflect  upon  every  mem- 
ber of  the  candidate's  living  family  and  upon  all  in  the 
ancestral  line  back  indefinitely.  Failure  very  frequently 
brought  crushing  despair  not  only  to  the  unsuccessful 
candidate,  but  to  those  who  had  helped  him;  and  when 
the  money  was  gone  without  hope  of  recovery  from  the 
salary  that  had  been  counted  upon,  too  often  the  dis- 
appointed candidate  and  his  whole  family  wiped  them- 
selves out  of  earthly  existence,  leaving  their  bodies  to 
be  cared  for  by  —  anybody!  But  suppose  success  came 
to  a  young  man  for  whom  a  poor  peasant  father  or  a 
strugghng  artisan  had  slaved,  while  barely  putting  into 
his  own  mouth,  and  those  of  the  rest  of  his  family,  suffi- 
cient food  to  keep  them  alive ;  or  a  widowed  mother  had 
struggled  while  starving  herself;  or  brothers  had  given 
all  the  assistance  they  could;  or  —  worst  of  all  —  a 
sister  had  sold  herself  into  a  fife  of  shame  (Confucianism 
demands  even  such  a  sacrifice)?  Bearing  in  mind  that 
the  "Great  Sage"  taught  ethics  which  we  consider 
peculiar,  if  we  say  nothing  worse  of  it,  and  that  the  moral 
point  of  view  in  China  was  adjusted  at  an  angle  somewhat 
different  from  our  own,  can  we  wonder  that  as  soon  as 
the  young  official  found  himself  in  a  position  to  repay 
the  kindness  shown  him,  to  make  up  somewhat  of  the 
sacrifices  others  had  unselfishly  made  for  him,  he  took 
his  ''squeeze"?  For  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that 
the  first  ofiicial  position  did  not  carry  with  it  a  salary 
sufi&cient  to  do  more  than  maintain  himself.  It  was 
wrong,  undoubtedly,  but  stop  and  think.  Is  there  not 
something  radically  wrong  in  an  ethical  system  which 
rarely  condemns  such  act  of  misappropriation  of  entrusted 


50  THE     COMING    CHINA 

funds;  in  a  code  which  seldom  punishes  for  it?  In  a 
little  book  of  Chinese  stories*  there  is  one  entitled  "The 
Wonderful  Man";  it  tells  of  a  widow  who  had  an  only 
son.  To  help  him  get  an  education,  she  did  what  was 
unpardonable;  while  the  son  was  still  so  young  that  the 
deception  could  be  successfully  practised  upon  him, 
she  concealed  her  identity  from  her  child  and  made  him 
think  she  was  his  father;  she  changed  her  dress,  shaved 
her  head  all  except  the  braided  queue,  and  made  herself 
as  much  hke  a  man  as  possible.  She  did  a  man's  work 
for  more  than  a  score  of  years,  and  her  self-effacement 
and  self-denial  were  successful;  but  with  the  son's  suc- 
cess comes  her  own  collapse  and  she  dies  when  she  hears 
the  young  man  tell  of  his  name  being  the  very  first  in  the 
list  of  those  who  had  passed  the  examination.  When 
the  son  prepares  his  ''father's"  dead  body  for  burial, 
he  learns  the  truth.  In  Chinese  opinion  that  son  was 
bound  to  requite  his  mother's  devotion,  by  giving  her 
body  an  appropriate  burial,  or  by  providing  royally  for 
her  comfort,  had  she  lived,  no  matter  how  he  obtained 
the  means  to  do  so.  It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know 
that  outside  one  of  the  four  gates  of  a  pref ectural  city  in 
the  south  of  China,  a  city  having  a  great  reputation  for 
learning  and  famous  as  the  abode  of  scholars,  on  the 
main  road  leading  northward  towards  the  far-off  capital, 
Peking,  there  stands  an  arch  which  bears  nothing  but 
this  legend,  "The  Wonderful  Man,"  carved  deep  in 
large  ideographs  on  the  central  granite  beam.  There 
is  no  personal  name  and  no  eulogium;  nothing  to  show 
in  whose  honour  the  arch  was  raised;  but  it  is  well  known, 

•"Chinese  Folk-Lore  Tales,"  by  Rev.  J.  Macgowan,  D.D. 


Water  Buffalo  and  Boy  Caketaker 


Water  Torii,  Mivajima 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        5I 

by  certain  of  the  literati  and  in  the  legends  of  the  town, 
that  it  is  in  memory  of  this  faithful  widowed  mother. 

He  who  reads  Chinese  history  carefully  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  cropping  up  here  and  there  expressions 
that  indicate  a  sort  of  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  there 
were  things  to  be  learned  "beyond  the  four  seas"  that 
outUned  the  Middle  Kingdom;  and  some  of  these  have 
been  already  briefly  alluded  to.  They  are  not  of  much 
importance,  one  way  or  the  other,  and  we  must  hasten 
on  to  some  discussion  of  what  has  been  said  by  Chinese 
of  recent  or  present  times  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to 
respectful  consideration.  Li  Hung-chang,  the  faithful 
servant  of  the  late  and  justly  famous  Empress  Dowager, 
who  was  for  a  time  held  to  be  infamous,  and  not  without 
reason,  was  known  by  the  sobriquet  of  ''The  Bismarck 
of  the  East,"  and  his  iron  hand  —  shall  we  say  unscrupu- 
lous severity?  —  gave  him  a  right  to  the  title.  He  had 
won  his  title  to  greatness  during  the  Taeping  Rebellion, 
and  for  the  services  he  rendered  in  finally  crushing  that 
trouble  which  so  nearly  overwhelmed  China,  and  would 
have  done  so  completely  had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance 
rendered  by  "Chinese"  Gordon,  under  whom  Li  learnt 
all  that  he  knew  of  modern  warfare.  Li  Hung-chang 
utilized  for  others  what  he  refused  for  himself,  that  is 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  by  China  from  adopting  and 
using  Western  education;  for  he  employed  an  English 
teacher  for  his  grandson.  Li  was  the  eldest  and  the 
leader  of  the  statesmen  with  whom  the  Empress  Dowager 
allied  herself  after  the  Boxer  troubles  in  1900.  He  with 
Chang  Chih-tung,  Yuan  Shih-kai,  Prince  Chung,  and  a 
few  others,  all  of  whom  will  be  mentioned,  in  ten  years, 


52  THE     COMING     CHINA 

acting  under  the  Empress'  authority,  put  into  operation 
all  the  reforms  that  the  late  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii,  ill 
advised  by  certain  over-zealous  though  right-purposed 
radical  reformers,  had  attempted  to  force  upon  his 
country  in  a  few  weeks.  Yet  there  was  a  time  when 
Li's  views  as  to  the  stern  necessity  for  China  to  emerge 
from  her  exclusiveness  and  become  a  part  of  the  great 
world  brought  him  disgrace.  After  his  return  from  that 
trip  around  the  world  in  1896  he  was  stripped  of  all  his 
honours,  and  it  was  said  in  Peking  at  the  time  that  only 
the  intercession  of  the  Empress  Dowager  saved  him 
from  actual  imprisonment  and  further  disgrace.  He 
lived  to  overcome  this  and  died  as  a  champion  of  the 
Coming  China.  Sceptical  about  many  things,  at  one 
time  he  was  an  apparent  advocate  of  progress,  and  at 
another  seemingly  a  firm  obstructionist;  professing  to 
see  danger  to  China  from  the  opium  curse,  he  was  yet 
one  of  the  greatest  growers  of  the  poppy  in  the  land. 
From  the  time  when  he  was  made  to  see  the  superiority 
of  Western  methods  in  organization  and  military  science, 
he  worked  with  some  foreigners  to  bring  about  general 
education,  and  called  to  his  home  the  assistance  of 
teachers,  not  for  himself  but  for  his  children  and  grand- 
children. His  expressions  of  admiration  for  American 
missionary  efforts  were  probably  as  sincere  as  anything 
he  ever  said;  and  his  influence  has  been  passed  on  to  a 
large  circle  of  his  countrymen  who  are  most  friendly  to  us. 
Of  Chang  Chih-tung,  in  connection  with  Liu  Kun-yi 
and  Wang  Wen  Shao,  three  great  viceroys  and  grand 
secretaries,  it  is  said,  and  quite  truly,  that  the  great 
Empress  Dowager  never  allowed  any  one  of  them  to  be 


Lakge  Stone  Bridge,  near  Shanghai 


Bronze  Statue  of  H.  E.  Li  IIung-Chang  in  the  Gardens 

NAMED  after  HIM,   NEAR  Zi-?;A-\VEI 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE        53 

without  an  important  office,  and  that  she  never  felt  called 
upon  to  degrade  any  of  them;  but  this  basking  in  the 
bright  Hght  of  Imperial  favour  did  not  persist  uninter- 
ruptedly; since  the  great  Empress'  demise  there  have 
been  times  when  these  three  were  not  such  brilliant 
luminaries  as  they  were  before.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
find  the  reason  for  the  great  Empress'  favour :  these  men 
were  the  most  eminent  progressive  officials  she  had  in 
her  empire,  but  not  one  of  them  was  great  enough  to  be 
a  menace  to  her  dynasty  or  her  personal  power;  and 
hence  there  was  no  necessity  for  her  occasionally  remind- 
ing them,  even  if  there  was  no  actual  sign  of  restive- 
ness,  or  overweening  self-appreciation,  that  there  was  a 
power  above  them  which  by  a  stroke  of  the  vermilion 
brush  could  transfer  them  "from  stars  in  the  official 
firmament  to  dandelions  in  the  grass."  Chang  Chih- 
tung,  called  "China's  Greatest  Viceroy,"  wrote  a 
small  book  entitled  Chuen  Hioh  Pien,  which  has 
been  translated  into  English  and  given  an  English 
title,  "China's  Only  Hope,"  which  is  not  a  translation. 
The  English  text  will  be  referred  to  very  often  in  this 
book.  It  is  said  that  the  late  Emperor  Kwang  Hsii 
encouraged  high  officials  to  read  the  book  and  the  people 
to  study  it  for  themselves.  One  milHon  copies  were 
distributed,  and  to  its  influence  are  in  great  measure 
due  the  bloody  coup  d'etat  of  the  Empress  Dowager, 
the  overthrow  of  the  young  Emperor,  the  decapitation 
of  the  patriotic  members  of  the  reform  party,  and,  indi- 
rectly, the  Boxer  Insurrection.  The  "clear  out  the 
foreigners"  policy  of  Prince  Tuan,  which  for  a  short  time 
seemed  to  ffiid  favour  with  the  people  generally,  may 


54  THE     COMING    CHINA 

possibly  be  an  outcome  of  the  doctrines  advanced  in  this 
book.  Yet  Chang  Chih-tung,  although  he  died  two 
years  ago,  hved  to  change  his  views  very  materially  and 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  United  States  of  America  is, 
all  things  considered,  his  country's  most  sympathetic 
friend,  and  he  charged  his  people  to  act  towards  America 
accordingly. 

Yuan  Shih-kai  is  another  of  those  whose  pronounce- 
ments for  the  Coming  China  are  entitled  to  consideration 
and  respect.  He  is  a  remarkable  man  in  every  way, 
although  he  is  now  retired,  feeling  that  the  burden  of 
years  disqualifies  him  from  further  activities.  He  has 
never  been  abroad,  yet  he  has  a  firmer  grip  on  affairs 
in  China  than  almost  any  other  man,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  Prince  Regent,  Chun.  He  realizes 
that  his  country  now  offers  for  the  consideration  of  the 
whole  world  one  of  the  biggest  and  most  bewildering 
problems.  He  is  entirely  a  self-made  man.  His  father 
was  a  soldier  and  from  him  the  son  inherited  those  tastes 
which  have  lately  displayed  themselves  in  the  creation 
of  a  small  army  that  has  been  praised  by  all  foreigners 
who  were  invited  to  witness  its  manoeuvres.  While 
once,  and  perhaps  always,  a  part  of  the  absolutism 
of  his  country,  and  always  obedient  to  the  commands 
of  his  Mistress,  the  Empress  Dowager,  herself,  possibly, 
the  strangest  compound  of  hide-bound  conservatism 
and  radical  progress,  he  nevertheless  worked  himself  up, 
rank  by  rank,  until  he  gained  the  top  and  became  a 
"red-button"  mandarin  and  a  viceroy;  with  a  person- 
ality towering  above  a  superstition-  and  tradition-ridden 
Court,  and  all  the  time  sufficiently  able  and  skilful  to 


VIEWS     OF     LEADING     CHINESE       $$ 

know  how  to  use  that  Court.  In  his  own  jurisdiction 
he  absolutely  curbed  the  Boxers  and  he  has  shown  by 
his  example  what  can  be  done  to  wipe  out  the  opium 
curse,  if  sincerity  in  this  cause  is  made  to  appear  at  the 
top.  Yuan's  earnestness  in  promoting  the  new  education 
has  been  an  example  for  others,  and  if  he  has  —  because 
of  his  miUtary  procUvities  —  turned  rather  to  Germany 
for  his  foreign  advisers,  he  has  evinced  his  respect  for 
American  institutions  and  people  in  many  ways.  He 
had  many  Europeans  in  his  employ,  yet  he  always  was 
perfectly  frank  in  saying  that  he  looks  for  the  time  to 
come  when  all  such  assistance  can  be  dispensed  with. 

The  Regent  of  China,  Prince  Chun,  a  brother  of  the 
late  and  most  unfortunate  Emperor,  Kuang  Hsii,  is 
another  of  the  leaders  of  China  from  whom  the  world 
expects  great  things,  because  of  the  opportunities  which 
he  has  had  to  become  acquainted  with  other  countries 
and  other  peoples  through  travelling  abroad,  an  experi- 
ence which  is  absolutely  unique  in  the  experience  of 
sovereigns  or  regents  in  China.  The  Prince  has  been  too 
discreet  at  all  times  to  commit  himself  in  any  way,  yet 
there  have  not  been  wanting  pleasing  evidences  of  his 
appreciation  of  Americans'  efforts  in  his  country's  behalf 
and  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  in  him  America  has  a 
friend  at  the  Chinese  Court. 

The  speeches  and  acts  of  Mr.  Wu  Ting-fang  can  never 
be  taken  seriously,  for  his  flippancy  is  simply  amusing; 
yet  if  there  is  anything  serious  in  his  character,  it  is 
probably  that  he  sees  in  America's  attitude  the  aid  that 
may  be  most  firmly  relied  upon.  To  go  further  in  com- 
ment or  criticism  might  seem  in  bad  taste. 


56  THE     COMING    CHINA 

His  Excellency,  Tong  Hsiao-i,  possibly  the  greatest, 
most  sincere,  and  most  successful  of  the  leaders  in  the 
crusade  against  opium,  can  not  well  be  anything  but 
friendly  to  America,  because  it  is  from  this  country  that 
the  staunchest  aid  is  likely  to  come  in  pushing  forward 
the  movement  to  that  success  for  which  so  many  men  in 
China  are  devoutly  praying. 

So  through  the  whole  Hst  of  reformers  in  China;  they 
are  with  scarcely  an  exception  frankly  outspoken  in 
their  appreciation  of  what  the  United  States  has  done 
in  the  past  to  help  their  country  along  and  especially 
in  the  matter  of  recognizing  China's  rights  to  be  given 
the  fullest  justice  in  the  matter  of  restoring  autonomous 
rights,  as  soon  as  she  has  given  satisfactory  evidence  of 
her  ability  to  use  those  rights  to  her  own  benefit  and 
without  prejudice  to  other  peoples. 


CHAPTER   III 

PRESENT   FEELING   IN    THE    UNITED   STATES 

IT  is  somewhat  difficult  to  discuss  this  subject  clearly 
and  concisely,  because  there  are  two  points  of  view 
and  each  is  different  in  its  basis  and  in  its  course  of 
reasoning;  on  the  one  hand  there  is  the  government 
policy,  and  on  the  other  there  is  the  popular  opinion 
that  runs  into  various  phases,  social,  industrial,  finan- 
cial, etc.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  general  sentiment  of 
the  American  Government  has  always  been  kindly  dis- 
posed towards  China,  and  willing  to  treat  the  govern- 
ment of  that  country,  as  well  as  its  people,  with  the 
consideration  that  has  not  been  so  marked  a  feature  of 
the  attitude  of  other  powers  towards  China  and  the 
Chinese.  It  is  practically  indisputable  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  if  we  may  use  that  compound,  rather  non- 
descript adjective  to  describe  the  Britons  and  the 
Americans  conjointly,  evince  a  degree  of  race  prejudice 
that  is  not  equalled  in  any  other  of  the  peoples  of 
Europe,  those  who  arrogate  to  themselves  a  superiority 
in  civilization  and  general  parts.  While  we  in  America 
are  not  free  from  this  characteristic,  which  stands  as 
a  barrier  in  the  way  of  getting  along  in  this  wide  world, 
we  are,  so  to  speak,  more  selfish  about  it  in  our  own 
United  States  of  America  than  are  our  British  cousins;  we 
display  the  trait  in  varying  degrees  of  strength  according 

57 


58  THE    COMING    CHINA 

to  locality;  but  away  from  the  influence  of  home  en- 
vironment and  especially  when  we  are  in  Asia,  we  are  not 
nearly  so  narrowed  in  our  exclusiveness  as  are  the  English 
especially,  who  are  decidedly  worse  in  this  respect  than 
are  their  Scotch  or  Irish  neighbours;  and  even  the 
Britons  display  this  race  prejudice  in  very  varying  degree, 
according  to  circumstances.  It  is  very  noticeable  that 
the  manner  of  the  Britons  who  arrive  in  China  or  Japan 
by  way  of  India,  and  especially  if  they  have  stayed  for 
any  appreciable  time  in  the  British-Indian  possessions, 
assumes  a  very  different  attitude  towards  the  natives  of 
China  or  Japan,  than  do  their  fellow-countrymen  who 
make  the  journey  westward  across  America  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean;  from  the  lips  of  the  former  the  word 
"nigger"  falls  too  readily  when  they  speak  of  the  natives 
and  there  is  an  offensive  tone  given  to  it  which  hurts 
the  feelings  most  unnecessarily;  while  the  latter  appear 
disposed  to  recognize  the  right  of  even  an  eastern  Asiatic 
to  be  considered  "a  man  and  a  brother."  Americans 
seem  willing  to  set  aside  the  statement  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  "We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self- 
evident,  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal,  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalien- 
able rights,  that  among  these  are  Life,  Liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  Happiness,"  when  they  are  at  home  and 
brought  into  personal  contact  with  the  negroes  in  the 
Southern  states,  or  the  Indians  in  various  localities,  or 
with  the  Asiatics  along  the  Pacific  Coast;  yet  inconsis- 
tently willing  to  live  up  to  those  principles  when  away 
from  home;  at  least  they  appear  to  be  less  violent  in 
their  prejudices  than  are  their  British  connections. 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         59 

But  all  the  peoples  of  the  world  must  recognize  the 
changes  that  have  been  wrought  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  during  these  beginning  years  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. It  is  not  so  easy  for  the  average  American  to  get 
himself  into  touch  with  affairs  in  all  quarters  of  the 
globe  as  it  is  for  the  Briton,  because  he  is  not  so  well 
supplied  with  general  news  as  is  the  reader  of  any  one 
of  several  great  London  dailies.  There  are  very,  very 
few  daily  journals  in  this  land  which  collect  information 
from  every  part  of  the  globe,  digest  it  wholesomely,  and 
arrange  it  systematically  and  simultaneously  so  that  the 
reader  knows  just  where  to  look  for  that  which  interests 
him  specially,  and  can  thus  be  enabled  to  follow,  day  by 
day,  the  sequence  of  events.  There  is  hkely  to  be  too 
much  tendency  to  give  undue  importance  to  a  local 
matter  of  unsavoury  gossip  in  the  columns  to-day,  where 
yesterday  was  a  tantaKzing  scrap  of  information  about 
an  event  of  world-wide  importance  that  he  would  hke  to 
follow  to  a  conclusion.  Yet  we  must  recognize  that 
anything  which  occurs  in  an  out-of-the-way  comer  may 
have  a  bearing  upon  our  own  line  of  proper  action.  In 
Russia  there  is  a  slumbering  volcano  and  it  is  well  for 
us  to  watch  it;  the  explosion  may  come  at  any  time  and 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  catastrophe  which  must 
follow  is  of  vital  importance  to  us;  will  its  results  be 
simply  an  overthrow  of  shameful  conditions  and  the 
beginning  of  something  like  that  which  our  forefathers 
declared  to  be  their  convictions  as  to  the  rights  of  man 
in  the  matter  of  "Life,  Liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
Happiness";  or  will  it  bring  a  bloody  devastation  by 
the  side  of  which  the  events  in  France  during  the  Reign 


6o  THE     COMING     CHINA 

of  Terror  are  almost  colourless  and  insipid?  These  are 
questions  that  possess  an  absorbing  and  intense  interest 
for  us.  Then,  too,  we  cannot  be  indifferent  to  what 
has  taken  place  in  South  Africa,  nor  can  we  ignore  the 
developments  there.  If  the  results  of  the  Russo-Jap- 
anese war  were  not  absolutely  decisive,  yet  its  influence 
has  been  wide-spread ;  in  Egypt,  Northern  Africa,  India, 
China,  almost  everywhere,  indeed,  it  is  noticeable.  In 
Egypt  the  Mussulmans  are  uneasy,  for  they  appear  to 
think  that  if  the  Japanese  could  do  so  much  as  against 
mighty  Russia,  they,  too,  may  be  able  to  throw  off  the 
British  yoke;  not  that  they  do  not  recognize  the  benefits 
they  themselves  derive  from  England's  wise  and  benef- 
icent rule,  but  because  of  their  conviction  that  they 
also  have  the  "Unalienable  Right"  of  self-government. 
It  has  been  well  said  that  if  another  "Holy  War"  should 
break  out  in  North  Africa,  it  is  difficult  even  to  surmise 
what  would  happen.  Again,  it  seems  as  if  the  Turks 
must,  ere  long,  cross  the  Bosphorus  and  leave  Europe 
forever;  what  will  follow  then?  Are  not  the  adminis- 
trative problems  of  British  India  of  interest  to  all,  and 
should  we  be  indifferent  to  the  outcome  of  that  spirit  of 
unrest  in  the  brightest  jewel  of  England's  crown,  which 
has  shown  marked  recrudescence  since  the  end  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  war  in  1905?  So,  too,  we  —  perhaps 
more  than  all  other  people  on  earth  —  should  be  keenly 
alive  to  events  in  China,  for  a  giant  is  truly  awakening. 
He  has  not  actually  been  sleeping  dreamlessly.  Napo- 
leon the  Great  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ;  for  his 
slumbers  have  always  been  more  or  less  affected  by  what 
was  happening  near  by;  but  there  came  a  rude  jar  three 


FEELING     IN     UNITED     STATES         6l 

hundred  years  ago,  and  bitter  lessons  were  taught  in 
1894,  1900,  and  again  in  1904- 1905.  It  is  our  manifest 
destiny  to  live  up  to  the  precedents  established  by  our 
earliest  representatives,  a  century  or  a  little  more  ago. 
Our  intercourse  with  China  actually  began  just  seven 
weeks  after  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  ratified  by  Congress 
(January  4,  1784),  for  the  first  vessel  —  most  appropri- 
ately named  The  Empress  of  China  —  sailed  from 
New  York  on  February  2  2d  of  that  same  year  and  ar- 
rived at  Canton,  after  a  fair  voyage,  in  the  summer,  and 
her  cargo,  principally  ginseng,  found  a  ready  market  at 
good  prices.  The  Chinese  people  were  well  pleased  with 
the  coming  of  these  "New"  people,  and  how  strangely 
it  contradicts  the  wide-spread  notion  of  Chinese  back- 
wardness and  indifference  to  all  things  beyond  their 
own  narrow  horizon,  to  learn  that  some  of  the  Cantonese 
people  then  already  knew  of  our  successful  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. The  commander  of  this  ship  was  Captain 
Green ;  the  supercargo  was  Samuel  Shaw,  who,  according 
to  custom  in  those  days  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards, 
was  vested  with  much  discretionary  power  and  was  a 
far  more  important  personage  than  his  title,  supercargo, 
now  conveys  to  our  minds.  The  vessel  returned  to 
America  in  May,  1785,  and  Mr.  Shaw  gave  a  full  account 
of  the  crude  Kfe  then  led  by  the  Httle  foreign  colony  at 
Canton,  to  Chief  Justice  Jay;  his  journal  was  published 
in  1847,  but  it  is  one  of  the  many  books  that  found  httle 
favour  at  the  time  and  it  is  now  rarely  seen;  but  the 
author's  narrative  and  comments  are  interesting,  accu- 
rate, and  illuminating.     From  this  pleasant  beginning 


62  THE     COMING     CHINA 

our  trade  steadily  increased  and  always  in  ways  that 
were  mutually  satisfactory;  our  government  exerted  its 
best  efforts  to  prevent  participation  by  its  nationals  in 
the  opium  trade,  but  at  such  a  distance  from  home  and 
with  nothing,  then,  of  judicial  machinery  to  enforce  its 
wishes  and  commands,  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  a 
certain  class  of  adventurers  taking  their  share  in  a  busi- 
ness which,  while  extra  hazardous,  was  so  enormously 
profitable.  The  only  event  of  an  unpleasant  nature  that 
interrupted  the  friendly  commercial  intercourse  between 
Americans  and  Chinese,  causing  an  outburst  of  righteous 
indignation  and  the  suspension  of  trade  for  a  short 
while,  occured  in  182 1,  when  an  ItaHan,  a  sailor  on  the 
American  ship  Emily,  killed  a  Chinese,  while  the  ship 
was  moored  off  Whampao,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Canton 
River.  The  Chinese  authorities,  ignoring  the  fact  that 
the  crime  was  unpremeditated,  demanded  the  surrender 
of  the  unfortunate  man  that  he  might  be  dealt  with 
according  to  Chinese  law.  This  demand  was  comphed 
with,  the  American  merchants  who  were  present  say- 
ing: "We  are  bound  to  submit  to  your  laws  while  we  are 
in  your  waters ;  be  they  ever  so  unjust,  we  will  not  resist 
them;"  but  every  one  protested  against  the  unfair  trial 
and  the  subsequent  strangulation  of  Terranova,  the 
unfortunate  victim.  Even  the  kindly  disposed  Dr.  S. 
Wells  WilUams  animadverts  upon  this  weakness  of  the 
Americans  in  letting  one  who  was  entitled  to  protection 
be  murdered  in  such  a  way,  and  contrasts  the  action 
unfavourably  with  the  strenuous  and  successful  opposi- 
tion of  the  British  officials  the  following  year,  when  a 
somewhat  similar  episode  led  the  Chinese  authorities  to 


View  of  Amoy 


Foreign'ek's  Residence,  Amoy 


FEELING     IN    UNITED     STATES         63 

demand  the  surrender  of  certain  British  subjects.  Terra- 
nova  was  strangled  at  the  public  execution  ground  of 
Canton  on  October  25,  1821;  his  body  was  handed  over 
to  the  Americans  the  next  day,  and  thereupon  trade, 
which  had  been  suspended  while  the  trial  was  in  progress, 
was  reopened;  and  continued  pleasantly  enough  until 
the  general  break-up  of  1842,  when  all  intercourse  with 
foreigners  was  suspended  during  the  First  War.  The 
only  thing  approximating  military  operation,  in  which 
the  Americans  appeared  actively  and  directly,  was  dur- 
ing the  troubles  incident  upon  the  seizure  of  the  opium- 
smuggHng  lorcha  Arrow  (one  of  the  Chinese  vessels, 
yet  flying  the  British  flag,  of  which  Sir  Robert  Hart 
makes  the  Chinese  complain  so  justly.  See  chapter  I.) 
The  Bogue  (pronounced  Bo-gi)  forts  at  *'  Bocca  Tigris, " 
Chinese  Chu  Fu  or  "Tiger's  Mouth,"  on  the  river  below 
Canton  fired  upon  a  United  States  man-of-war,  recog- 
nizing her  to  be  a  foreign  vessel  yet  not  distinguishing 
her  flag;  the  forts  were  promptly  silenced,  and  that  was 
the  only  display  of  America's  military  strength  until 
our  participation  in  the  Boxer  episode  of  1900.  Our 
government  consistently  refused  to  be  drawn  into  any 
of  the  "wars"  (for  it  is  a  shame  and  a  mistake  to  call 
such  one-sided  expeditions  "wars")  between  the  British 
first,  and  later  the  combined  British  and  French  forces, 
and  the  Chinese  troops;  going  so  far  in  this  consistency 
as  to  administer  a  sharp  snub  to  our  diplomatic  repre- 
sentative at  the  time  of  the  Opium  war,  when  Dr. 
Peter  Parker,  as  charge  d'affaires,  suggested  cooperation 
with  the  British  in  punishing  the  Chinese.  "The  Brit- 
ish  Government  evidently  has  objects  beyond   those 


64  THE     COMING     CHINA 

contemplated  by  the  United  States  and  we  ought  not 
to  be  drawn  along  with  it,  however  anxious  it  may  be 
for  our  cooperation."  The  United  States  Government 
soon  after  the  announcement  of  success  in  negotiating 
a  treaty  with  China,  that  made  at  Nanking  in  August, 
1842,  appointed  a  sort  of  minister  extraordinary  to  the 
court  of  Peking,  Caleb  Cushing,  who  was  appointed 
commissioner  by  President  Tyler  and  given  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  of  China,  then  the  famous 
Tao  Kwang,  a  ruler  and  a  statesman  of  no  mean  ability, 
even  when  compared  with  "enlightened"  monarchs,  and 
whose  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  suffering  people  to  suppress 
the  opium  trade  gained  for  him  first,  the  hatred  of  the 
greedy  importers;  second,  the  distrust  of  some  of  his 
own  people;  and  last,  the  cooperation  of  all  —  both 
foreigners  and  natives  —  who  have  since  come  to  reaHze 
the  imperative  necessity  for  doing  away  with  the  pesti- 
lential drug.  Cushing  appears  to  have  been  accredited 
to  the  Grand  Khan,  as  there  was  then  manifest  con- 
fusion of  Tartary  and  China  in  the  minds  of  our  Wash- 
ington officials.  The  extraordinary  document  is  to  be 
found  —  of  course  —  in  the  files  of  the  Department  of 
State  archives,  but  it  is  given  in  full  in  ''The  Middle 
Kingdom";  with  this  comment:  ''As  an  instance  of  the 
singular  mixture  of  patronizing  and  deprecatory  address 
then  deemed  suitable  for  the  Grand  Khan  by  Western 
nations;"  and  Capt.  F.  Brinkley,  in  his  estimable  com- 
pilation, "Oriental  Series:  Japan  and  China,"  holds  it 
up  to  ridicule  not  undeserved,  it  must  be  admitted,  and 
yet  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  the  limited  knowledge 
of  China  then  possessed,  and  many  other  things  are 


FEELING     IN    UNITED     STATES         65 

extenuating.  The  multiplication  of  states  in  the  Federal 
Union,  the  comparison  of  sizes  of  China  and  the  United 
States,  the  childish  tone  used  in  discussing  desires  and 
problems  of  trade,  the  odd  mixture  of  "I"  and  "we," 
and  other  features  make  us  smile,  and  would  to-day 
surely  result  in  having  the  documents  handed  back  to 
the  ambassador  without  comment  and  without  audience 
or  recognition  for  him  in  any  way.  Mr.  Gushing,  with 
other  foreign  representatives,  concluded  a  treaty  which 
was,  however,  signed  upon  what  was  considered  Portu- 
guese soil,  at  Wanghia,  a  suburb  of  Macao,  on  July  3, 
1844.  Yet  this,  which  might  have  proved  in  different 
circumstances  to  be  a  fatal  mistake,  was  permitted  to 
pass  without  prejudice,  and  the  treaty  became  the  leading 
authority  in  settling  disputes  until  i860;  its  thirty-one 
clauses  seemed  to  provide  amply  for  all  possible  contin- 
gencies, especially  in  the  matter  of  showing  clearly  the 
rights  conceded  by  the  Chinese  Government  to  foreign- 
ers residing  within  China's  borders.  There  was  not  yet, 
perhaps,  that  explicit  extra-territorial  clause  of  the 
future,  but  the  document  was  admitted,  even  by  the 
British  themselves,  to  be  decidedly  an  advance  upon 
their  own  preceding  effort;  and  what  was  most  satis- 
factory to  all  concerned  was  the  dignified  and  amicable 
way  in  which  the  negotiations  were  conducted. 

The  precedent  established  in  the  matter  of  the  Bogue 
forts  has  been  consistently  followed  by  our  government 
in  matters  relating  to  the  Far  East.  Tliis  position  was 
maintained  even  when,  some  years  later,  i860,  our  min- 
ister plenipotentiary,  W.  B.  Reed,  suggested  that  the 
United  States  join  with  British  and  French  forces  in  the 


66  THE     COMING     CHINA 

campaign  which  eventually  resulted  in  the  occupation 
of  Peking  and  the  dictation  of  terms  even  more  onerous 
than  had  ever  before  been  exacted;  the  legalized  impor- 
tation and  sale  of  opium  being  unquestionably  the  most 
outrageous  demand  ever  made  by  conscious  strength 
upon  conscious  weakness.  Another  American,  Dr. 
Bethune  McCartee,  who  was  a  resident  of  many  years' 
standing  at  that  time,  has  expressed  himself  with  most 
pleasing  force  against  the  attitude  which  Europeans  then 
took  with  the  Chinese.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  State 
under  President  Buchanan,  met  Reed's  suggestion  with 
the  statement  that  the  President  was  unwilling  to  ask 
Congress  to  seek  redress  for  wrongs,  accidental,  never 
really  intended,  done  to  American  citizens,  by  resort  to 
arms.  The  Government,  however,  by  maintaining  a 
diplomatic  representative,  did  endorse  the  claim  of  the 
West  for  free  intercourse  with  Chinese. 

Lest  it  should  be  contended  by  some  purists  that  the 
statement  that  the  silencing  of  the  Bogue  forts  by  the 
guns  of  the  Portsmouth  was  the  only  display  of  mili- 
tary force  made  by  Americans  in  China  until  1900,  is  not 
literally  true,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  during  the  second 
battle  between  the  Chinese  forts  at  Taku,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Peiho  River,  below  Tientsin,  and  the  combined 
British  and  French  fleet,  Commodore  Tatnall  opened  fire 
when  he  saw  some  British  boats  in  imminent  danger. 
His  remark,  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water,"  has  passed 
into  history.  The  episode,  however,  was  so  insignificant 
that  it  does  not  actually  invalidate  what  has  been  said. 

J.  E.  Ward,  our  next  minister,  made  his  way  to  Peking, 
but  refused  to  submit  to  the  degradation  of  the  kaotao, 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         67 

although  some  of  the  Chinese  statesmen  made  a  good 
effort  to  convince  him  that  they  and  their  Emperor  were 
asking  nothing  more  than  they  themselves  would  expect 
to  do  when  visiting  Washington  City,  to  be  received  in 
audience  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  if  they 
stood  before  the  portrait  of  George  Washington  at  his 
former  home.  It  was  an  amusing  trick  and  yet  the 
statement  goes  some  way  towards  showing,  again,  that 
the  alleged  self-contained,  ignorant  superiority  of  the 
Chinese  was  not  so  colossal  as  it  has  been  declared  to  be 
by  some  writers.  Ward  had  arrived  in  November  of 
the  previous  year  and  the  circumstances  of  his  coming, 
coupled  with  the  friendly  manner  of  the  envoy,  strength- 
ened the  good  opinion  of  the  Chinese  for  Americans 
generally.  He  concluded  the  first  commercial  treaty 
between  ourselves  and  the  Chinese,  and  lent  his  aid  to 
suppress,  if  possible,  the  nefarious  "coolie"  trafi&c.  In 
February,  i860,  he  allowed  Chinese  officials  to  search 
the  American  ship  Messenger,  upon  their  alleging 
that  there  were  a  number  of  coolies  detained  in  her  hold 
against  their  will.  Three  hundred  and  seventeen  of 
these  unfortunate  creatures  were  found.  "Every  one 
of  them  declined  to  go  back  to  the  ship,  but  it  was  not 
proved  how  many  had  been  beguiled  away  on  false 
pretences,  the  usual  mode  of  kidnapping.  The  report 
of  the  commission  sent  to  Cuba  a  dozen  years  later 
asserts,  as  the  result  of  careful  inquiries,  that  a  majority 
of  the  coolies  in  Cuba,  '  were  decoyed  aboard,  not  legiti- 
mately induced  to  emigrate.'"* 

In  the  light  of  later  information  and  better  opportu- 

*  "The  Middle  Kingdom,"  by  S.  Wells  Williams. 


68  THE    COMING    CHINA 

nities  for  investigating  native  records,  getting  at  the  Chi- 
nese side  of  many  questions  which  were  presented  to  us 
in  a  ver\'  ex  parte  manner  years  ago,  it  is  but  just  to  the 
Chiuese,  although  it  seems  rather  presumptuous  detrac- 
tion from  what  has  alwaj's  been  considered  one  of  the 
few  reliable  books  about  China,  to  say  that  "The  Mid- 
dle Kingdom,"  while  it  is  accurate  when  dates  and  facts 
could  be  verified  from  records  kept  by  responsible 
foreigners,  officials,  missionaries,  or  merchants,  yet  the 
whole  tone  of  the  book  now  seems  to  be,  and  is,  hardly 
fair  to  the  Chinese.  For  a  man  who  was  connected  with 
a  Protestant  Christian  mission,  who  was  one  of  the 
earliest  in  the  field,  and  who  in  linguistic  attainments  is 
properly  accorded  a  place  in  the  front  rank  of  Sinologues, 
to  sneer  at  the  ignorance,  stupidity,  and  obstinacy  of  all 
Chinese,  and  to  assume  for  his  own  countr}-men  and  other 
foreigners  a  superiority  in  all  things  moral,  ethical, 
industrial,  commercial,  over  the  Chinese,  simply  shows 
now  how  dense  was  the  ignorance  of  even  the  well- 
intentioned  foreigner  in  China  half  a  centur}*  and  more 
ago.  Throughout  the  whole  of  "The  ^Middle  Kingdom '' 
China  is  spoken  of  actually  or  alluded  to  confidently  as 
if  the  Great  Wall  had  been  built  along  the  outermost 
confines  of  the  empire  from  time  immemorial  and  had 
never  been  passed  by  Europeans  until  the  coming  of  the 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards  in  the  sLxteenth  century; 
whereas  we  now  know  that  in  the  strict  sense  of  words, 
China  had  not  been  a  "closed''  countr}-  at  aU,  until  the 
Ul-behaved  Europeans  had  disgusted  the  Chinese  people, 
and  almost  compelled  them  to  seek  safety  in  seclusion. 
In  ever}-  way,  the  American  official  methods  were, 


FEELING     IN     UNITED     STATES         69 

certainly  in  those  early  days,  pleasing  to  the  Chinese,  so 
far  as  it  was  possible  for  the  officials  of  that  empire  to 
bring  themselves  to  see  anjlJiing  bordering  on  the  satis- 
factory in  the  presence  of  the  "Men  of  the  West."  In 
the  commercial  world,  of  which  Americans  were  now 
beginning  to  appropriate  a  considerable  share,  there  was, 
too,  less  that  was  objectionable  in  our  methods  than  in 
those  of  some  of  our  fellow  intruders.  It  was  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  or  a  little  before  that  time, 
that  the  great  American  commercial  firms  established 
themselves  in  the  Far  East;  the  names  of  these  houses 
for  many  years  stood  for  all  that  was  upright  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Chinese,  until  the  word  of  a  "Taipan"  of  such  an 
establishment  was  all  the  bond  that  a  narive  merchant 
asked  for,  and  there  are  many  weU  known  cases  of  extra- 
ordinary- confidence  being  placed  in  the  integrity  of  those 
American  merchants.  It  is,  imfortunately,  a  necessity 
that  the  fickle  goddess  Fortune  has  wrought  havoc 
which  compels  the  use  of  the  past  tense  in  writing  of 
those  great  American  mercantile  houses  in  China  for, 
alas!  they  have  all  disappeared;  gone  so  completely  that 
even  the  reputation  which  was  theirs  in  the  olden  da>-s 
does  not  survive  among  those  who  have  fallen  heir  to 
their  transactions.  It  is  not  intended  to  impute  lack  of 
commercial  probity  to  even  one  of  the  existing  firms;  but 
times  have  changed  and  methods  have  changed  •vsith 
them,  imtil'  nowada}-s  business  in  China  is,  as  it  is  in 
pretty  much  all  the  world,  no  longer  a  matter  of  gigan- 
tic enterprises,  combining  —  to  be  sure  —  much  risk 
•with  almost  assuredly  enormous  profits  when  the  risk 
was  once  safely  passed,  but  rather  a  somewhat  hazardous 


70  THE     COMING     CHINA 

brokerage  with  competition  so  keen  as  to  reduce  com- 
mission to  the  lowest  point. 

Continuing  the  consideration  of  the  attitude  of  the 
American  Government  toward  China,  we  should  recall 
what  William  H.  Seward  said,  more  than  fifty  years  ago: 
"The  Pacific  Ocean,  its  shores,  its  islands,  and  the  vast 
region  beyond  will  become  the  chief  theatre  of  events  in 
the  world's  great  Hereafter."  But  a  very  short  time 
ago  Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  while  President,  seizing 
upon  the  idea  of  another,  as  he  is  so  fond  of  doing,  and 
expanding  it  till  it  has  almost  the  appearance  of  origi- 
nality, said:  "The  Mediterranean  era  died  with  the  dis- 
covery of  America;  the  Atlantic  era  is  now  at  the  height 
of  its  development  and  must  soon  exhaust  the  resources 
at  its  command;  the  Pacific  era,  destined  to  be  the 
greatest,  is  just  at  the  dawn."  Our  own  sea-frontage  on 
the  Pacific  of  nautical  miles  to  be  protected,  patrolled, 
and  lighted  is  about  12,500;  that  of  Great  Britain  {i.e., 
the  British  Empire)  is  10,000;  Russia  has  but  a  little 
over  6000;  Japan  less  than  5000,  although  this  includes 
both  sides  of  her  islands ;  China  a  Uttle  more  than  3000. 
Adding  to  our  own  the  island  possessions  of  Hawaii, 
Wake,  Guam,  the  Philippines,  etc.,  for  telegraphic  con- 
nection, and  we  run  far  ahead  of  the  others,  almost  in  their 
aggregate.  Thus  we  see  what  devolves  upon  us  in  the 
matter  of  responsibility,  and  we  also  grasp  somewhat  of 
the  meaning  of  Japan's  jealousy  as  to  Hawaii;  it  is 
unwise  to  forecast,  but  possible  it  is  that  jealousy,  which 
found  vehement  expression  in  the  protest  made  at  the 
time  of  annexation,  that  now  threatens  another  act  of 
crass  stupidity  on  the  part  of  the  somewhat  turbulent 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         71 

Japanese.  But  with  the  United  States  on  the  east  and 
China  on  the  west  facing  each  other,  it  is  manifest  that 
destiny  has  drawn  us  into  neighbourhness,  although  our 
hands  grasp  across  a  stretch  of  four  or  five  thousand 
miles.  Should  we  not,  therefore,  have  more  considera- 
tion than  we  have  had  for  the  natural  and  laudable 
ambitions  of  our  Chinese  friends? 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  cause  a  geo- 
graphical change  possibly  greater  even  than  that  which 
followed  the  construction  of  the  Suez  Canal,  for  the 
latter  merely  suppHed  an  easier  method  for  accomplish- 
ing one  stage  of  a  journey  from  Europe  to  China,  which 
had  been  constantly  made  for  many  years;  whereas, 
save  for  occasional  communication  with  the  Pacific 
coast  of  North  and  South  America,  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  had  figured  but  Httle  in  the  world's  affairs;  but 
with  the  canal  in  operation  and  the  voyage  from  our 
own  Atlantic  coast  materially  shortened,  it  becomes  quite 
a  different  matter;  hence  it  is  that  the  Chinese  look  upon 
the  construction  of  that  waterway  with  almost  as  keen 
interest  as  we  do  ourselves.  There  is  not  yet,  if  ever 
there  shall  be,  a  marked  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese 
to  achieve  the  supremacy  of  the  Pacific,  as  this  ambition 
has  been  formulated  by  Japanese  for  themselves  in 
terms  that  are  anything  but  friendly  to  us;  that  suprem- 
acy China  gladly  yields  to  America  and  probably  will 
never  contend  for  it,  either  belligerently  or  commercially, 
with  us. 

The  name  of  Anson  BurHngame  is  so  closely  connected 
with  our  own  intercourse  with  China,  and  that  of  the 
world  generally,  as  hardly  to  need  more  than  mention 


72  THE    COMING    CHINA 

here;  yet  1868,  when  he  negotiated  the  treaty  which  has 
always  borne  his  name,  is  so  far  from  us  now  in  time  that 
a  word  or  two  may  properly  be  said  about  it  to  preserve 
the  sequence  of  this  narrative.  The  conditions  were: 
First,  to  recognize  China's  rights  of  eminent  domain 
over  all  her  territory,  even  when  occupied  by  foreign 
traders;  second,  to  concede  to  her  the  sole  control  over 
her  own  inland  navigation;  third,  to  give  the  Chinese 
Government  the  right  to  appoint  consuls  to  American 
ports;  fourth,  that  China  should  agree  to  grant  protec- 
tion to  foreign  religions  and  cemeteries  wherein  foreign- 
ers were  buried;  fifth,  to  endorse  naturalization  rights 
and  forbid  the  coolie  trade;  sixth,  to  give  reciprocal 
rights  of  travel  and  residence  to  citizens  of  each  party  in 
the  country  of  the  other;  seventh,  to  open  all  schools  in 
each  country  to  children  of  either  nationality;  and 
eighth,  to  acknowledge  the  rights  of  the  Emperor  of 
China  to  make  internal  improvements  unobstructed  by 
foreign  interference.  This  was,  in  some  of  its  provi- 
sions, too  radical  and  it  was  so  amended  by  subsequent 
legislation  as  to  become  entirely  inoperative. 

In  the  year  1900,  when  all  the  world  was  watching  the 
Legations  in  Peking  and  was  filled  with  the  warmest 
sympathy  for  the  surviving  relatives  and  friends  of  those 
in  the  out  towns  and  villages  who  had  lost  their  lives  at 
the  hands  of  the  bloodthirsty  Boxers,  Mr.  John  Hay, 
Secretary  of  State,  in  his  despatch  of  July  3d  announcing 
the  plans  of  the  government,  expressed  the  sentiments 
and  wishes  of  all  in  somewhat  this  way :  It  is  the  accepted 
duty  of  the  government  promptly  to  effect  the  rescue 
of  all  American  citizens  who  are  in  any  danger,  and  then 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         73 

to  seek  for  a  solution  of  the  imminent  problem  which 
shall  secure  personal  safety  and  also  peace  to  China; 
preserving  its  territorial  and  administrative  entity,  while 
protecting  all  rights  guaranteed  by  treaty  and  inter- 
national law,  and  safeguard  to  the  world  the  principles 
of  equal  and  impartial  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  Chinese 
Empire.  Inasmuch  as  the  outside  world  looked  upon 
this  Boxer  Insurrection  as  something  for  which  the 
government  of  China  was,  perhaps,  not  primarily  or 
even  incidentally  responsible,  it  was  felt  that  conditions 
were  anomalous  and  that  punishment  should  not  follow 
the  usual  course;  that  there  was  a  curious  misappre- 
hension and  a  most  extraordinary  complication,  is 
something  we  now  know  very  well;  but  a  discussion  of 
the  Boxer  trouble  is  not  pertinent  here. 

When  President  Taft,  at  that  time  a  member  of  the 
Cabinet,  visited  Shanghai  in  October,  1907,  he  spoke  to 
a  large  and  mixed  audience,  and  in  his  speech  expressed 
the  following  sentiments:  "The  United  States  and  others 
who  sincerely  favour  the  open-door  policy  will,  if  they  are 
wise,  not  only  welcome,  but  will  encourage  the  great 
Chinese  Empire  to  take  long  strides  in  administrative 
and  governmental  reform,  in  the  development  of  her 
great  natural  resources,  and  the  improvement  and  wel- 
fare of  her  people.  In  this  way  she  will  add  strength  to 
her  position  as  a  self-respecting  nation;  may  resent  all 
foreign  aggression,  seeking  undue  exclusive  or  proprie- 
tary privileges  in  her  territory,  and  without  foreign  aid 
enforce  an  open-door  policy  of  equal  opportunity  to  all." 

The  sentiment  which  led  to  the  passage  of  the  exclu- 
sion bills  did  not  have  its  origin  in  views  which  any 


74  THE    COMING    CHINA 

administration  held;  but  those  bills  were  distinctly 
measures  passed  at  the  demand  of  a  comparatively  few 
men  —  many  of  whom  had  barely  attained  their  citizen- 
ship —  who  held  sufficient  political  power  in  their  hands 
to  dictate  to  the  great  political  parties,  as  has  been 
shown  by  the  extract  from  the  Right  Honorable  James 
Bryce's  *'The  American  Commonwealth."  That  the 
wishes  of  the  Pacific  Coast  residents  were  not  altogether 
those  of  the  country  at  large,  is  demonstrable  in  many 
ways,  and  is  conspicuously  set  forth  in  the  following 
statement  made  by  the  American  Asiatic  Society,  a 
group  of  men  connected,  some  of  them,  with  our  govern- 
ment, as  well  as  many  others  who  are  of  more  or  less 
importance  in  financial,  industrial,  and  commercial  cir- 
cles: "In  the  judgment  of  this  delegation  and  the  asso- 
ciation which  it  represents,  the  treatment  accorded  by 
the  officers  of  the  government  to  the  exempt  classes  of 
Chinese  visiting  our  country  is  more  oppressive  than 
either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  law  requires. "  Apro- 
pos of  the  boycott  which  was  inaugurated  at  Shanghai, 
and  carried  on  to  a  disconcerting  semblance  of  success 
which  caused  consternation  in  the  ranks  of  our  mer- 
chants engaged  in  trade  with  China,  Secretary  (now 
President)  Taf  t  said  in  his  speech  at  Shanghai  which  has 
been  already  mentioned:  "I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
view  with  alarm  the  effect  of  a  growth  of  China,  with  her 
teeming  millions,  into  a  great  industrial  empire.  I  think 
that  this,  instead  of  injuring  foreign  trade  with  China, 
would  greatly  increase  it,  and  while  it  might  change  the 
character  in  some  respects,  it  would  not  diminish  its 
profit.     A  trade  which  depends  for  its  profit  on   the 


Idol  Procession:   not  an  Uncommon  Scene  in  Shanghai 


"On  nil:  W  av    ro  a   Heaiih.n  Cikemonv 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         75 

backwardness  of  a  people  in  developing  their  own  re- 
sources, and  upon  their  inability  to  value  at  the  proper 
relative  prices  that  which  they  have  to  sell  and  that 
which  they  have  to  buy,  is  not  one  which  can  be  counted 
upon  as  stable  or  permanent."  "We  have  steadily 
refrained  from  coercing  a  helpless  people  ourselves, 
although  we  have  not  denied  the  right  of  others  to  defend 
commercial  and  political  interests.  We  have  accepted 
no  accessions  of  territory,  even  at  the  treaty-ports. 
We  have  never  menaced  the  territorial  integrity  of 
China  and  have  been  foremost  in  upholding  her  sovereign 
rights  on  her  own  soil.  However  fatuous  and  unfair 
treatment  of  Chinese  in  America  has  been,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  we  have  tried  to  treat  the  Chinese  Empire 
as  honourably  as  any  other  and  have  constantly  desired 
to  include  men  of  every  race  and  colour  in  the  great 
family  of  nations  so  soon  as  they  could  prove  their  birth- 
right by  the  plain  tests  of  morality  and  culture.  We 
have  decHned  at  all  times  to  force  upon  an  unwilling 
people  our  scientific  and  economic  methods  of  industry  or 
transportation,  or  to  take  possession  of  their  affairs  in 
the  proud  and  selfish  conviction  that  we  could  manage 
their  affairs  better  than  they  could  themselves." 

All  of  this  shows  pretty  clearly  that  the  feeling  of  the 
United  States  towards  China  is  a  friendly  one,  if  we  limit 
the  expression  to  the  Government,  ofl&cials,  statesmen, 
pubhcists,  and  the  broad-minded  merchants  and  indi- 
viduals. It  appears  to  be  the  opinion  that  just  as  we 
induced  Japan  by  moral  persuasion,  not  by  strenuous 
measures  or  overawing  military  display,  to  open  her 
doors  to  us,  and  then  lent  every  assistance  at  our  com- 


76  THE    COMING    CHINA 

mand  to  help  her  advance  rapidly  along  the  pathway  of 
her  new  civilization,  so,  too,  we  stand  ready  to  lend  a 
similar  helping  hand  to  China;  and  that  there  are  signs 
of  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  to  accept  our 
kindly  offices  cannot  be  denied,  only  it  must  be  done  in 
their  way,  other  things  being  equal.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
and  it  is  the  expectation  of  all  who  know  China  and 
Japan  equally  well,  that  history  may  not  repeat  itself 
in  a  seeming  display  of  unfriendliness  in  China,  such  as 
has  furnished  certain  alarmists,  newspaper  correspond- 
ents, and  other  sensationalists  to  see  in  Japan's  recent 
movements  nothing  save  that  which  bodes  ill  for  our 
future  relations  with  that  country.  It  is  true  that  for  a 
time  many  Chinese  looked  upon  President  Roosevelt's 
interference  with  the  contending  parties  in  the  Russo- 
Japanese  conflict  as  productive  of  no  good  for  China, 
and  that  this  suspicion  has  since  deepened  into  convic- 
tion. China  felt  herself  to  be  between  the  upper  and  the 
nether  millstones  and  would  doubtless  at  the  time  have 
preferred  victory  for  Japan  rather  than  for  Russia;  but 
there  was,  even  in  1 904-1 905,  a  suspicion  that  Japan's 
assurances  that  she  was  influenced  by  altruistic  motives 
only  were  anything  but  ingenuous,  and  now  has  come 
the  indubitable  demonstration  of  the  correctness  of  that 
suspicion.  Had  there  been  even  a  semblance  of  truth 
in  Japan's  declarations  that  she  went  into  the  war  to 
sustain  her  own  position  in  Korea,  over  which  she 
claimed  —  by  a  most  mythical  Une  of  argument  —  a 
certain  right  of  friendly  suzerainty,  and  to  drive  the 
Russians  from  Manchuria  mainly  for  China's  sole  bene- 
fit, then  the  Japanese  flag  would  not  fly  over  the  Liao- 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES  77 

tung  peninsula;  the  South  Manchurian  railway  would 
not  be  a  profitable  adjunct  to  Japan's  own  system;  and 
the  administration  of  affairs  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  three  eastern  provinces  would  be  to-day  exclusively 
in  China's  hands,  just  where  it  belongs. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  discuss  seriously  the  feeling 
among  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  general  towards 
China,  since  that  is  so  distinctly  a  personal  matter  and 
opinions  would,  of  course,  be  innumerable.  In  many 
places  and  with  individuals  of  all  callings,  there  is  a 
certain  apprehension  that  the  Coming  China  may  mean 
an  unwelcome  recrudescence  of  the  "Yellow  Peril"; 
possibly  another  warHke  onslaught  upon  Europe  of  the 
"Awful  Mongols."  To  the  mind  of  the  unprejudiced 
observer  at  close  range,  there  is  positively  no  indication 
of  such  a  disaster,  and  this  could  easily  be  made  patent 
to  the  most  timid  even  among  those  who  really  know 
nothing  of  Chinese  characteristics.  In  the  Pacific 
region  there  is  still  some  apprehension  that  the  least 
relaxing  of  the  present  stringent  exclusion  laws  would 
bring  a  further  disastrous  and  overwhelming  influx  of 
Chinese  labourers;  and  yet  even  in  that  part  of  the 
country  there  is  a  breach  of  consistency  that  is  almost 
amusing.  Since  San  Francisco  has  secured  the  coming 
International  Exhibition  in  honor  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
it  appears  that  a  desire  to  secure  the  patronage  of  Japan, 
and  by  inference  that  of  China  as  well,  leads  the  citizens 
of  Cahfomia  to  lay  aside  some  of  their  fierce  antipathy 
to  the  Asiatics  and  this  fact  of  itself  rather  tends  to 
create  a  doubt  as  to  the  good  faith  and  seriousness  of 
that  opposition  which  was  so  strong.   It  is  well  to  sound 


78  THE    COMING    CHINA 

a  word  of  warning  as  to  the  unadvisability  of  repeating 
the  course  of  procedure  at  the  time  of  the  St.  Louis 
Exposition,  when  a  most  gratuitous  affront  was  put 
upon  Asiatic  exhibitors;  the  least  intimation  that  there 
will  be  a  repetition  in  connection  with  the  San  Francisco 
Exhibition  will  bring  about  positive  refusal  to  partici- 
pate in  any  way. 

Among  financiers  there  is  a  reasonable  and  natural 
desire  to  share  in  the  profits  which  may  accrue  from  the 
developing  of  China;  but  this  meets  with  some  obstacles 
because  of  the  wish  of  the  Chinese  themselves  to  super- 
vise the  building  operations  when  railways  and  the  hke 
are  the  object  in  view;  the  installing  of  industrial  plants, 
and  other  establishments  of  a  hke  nature;  and  the 
Chinese  wish,  too,  to  have  the  controlling  voice  in 
the  management  of  all  such  undertakings,  even  when 
the  whole  or  the  bulk  of  the  capital  is  supplied  from 
abroad.  This  should  cause  little  surprise  and  no  great 
apprehension  when  we  recall  the  episode  of  the  Hankow- 
Canton  Railway.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was 
granted  to  an  American  syndicate.  The  concession  for 
the  northern  section  of  China's  great  trunk  line,  from 
Peking  to  Canton,  had  been  given  to  a  Belgian  syndi- 
cate which  was  financed  in  France,  the  Russo-Chinese 
Bank  (which  is  in  reality  a  Russian  state  bank)  was  the 
banker  for  the  enterprise  and  supplied  the  actual  cash 
as  it  was  required.  This  arrangement  was  not  altogether 
pleasing  to  the  Chinese,  who  were  and  are  reluctant  to 
have  themselves  in  any  way  put  into  the  hands  of  any 
Russo-French  combination.  The  Chinese  felt  that  if 
their  good  friends,  the  Americans,  had  the  control  of  the 


FEELING    IN    UNITED     STATES         79 

southern  section  they  would  be  safe,  because  we  had 
never  displayed  any  ambition  or  design  to  acquire 
territorial  rights  in  China.  But  when  the  American 
concessionaries  sold  out  to  Belgian  capitalists,  the  Chi- 
nese were  disgusted  and  decided  to  buy  back  the  con- 
cession; but  here  a  serious  difficulty  arose:  neither  the 
American-Belgian  proprietors  nor  the  Chinese  seemed 
to  be  prepared  to  build,  and  when  terms  of  purchase  were 
discussed,  it  was  found  that  a  concession  which  was 
worth  not  more  than  two  million  dollars,  even  after 
making  the  most  liberal  allowance  for  investment  in 
preliminary  and  final  surveys,  installation  of  plants, 
acquired  material,  and  everything  else  was  held  at  three 
and  three  quarter  million  dollars.  This  profit  of  over 
fifty  per  cent,  may  be  considered  a  legitimate  prize,  but 
its  exaction  from  the  Chinese  has  called  forth  comment 
that  is  not  flattering  to  Americans.  Yet  even  so,  there 
must  be  many  other  opportunities  for  profitable  invest- 
ment in  China,  and  if  the  important  question  of  security 
for  capital  loaned  can  be  forthcoming,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  we  shall  still  have  preference  with  the 
Chinese;  consequently,  the  feeling  among  the  capitalists 
of  the  United  States  is  decidedly  favourable.  Among 
commercial  men  there  has  never  been  anything  serious 
to  shake  the  confidence  that  has  always  been  felt  in 
the  integrity  of  the  Chinese  merchant. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   POSSIBILITIES    OF    A    TRANSFORMED    CHINA 

BEFORE  venturing  to  make  even  a  surmise  as  to 
what  may  be  in  that  great  empire  of  China,  should 
the  influence  of  modern  thought  and  ways  be  rewarded 
and  permitted  to  exert  their  full  effect,  we  must  try  to 
consider  in  a  certain  way  what  has  led  up  to  the  frame 
of  mind  which  has  hitherto  influenced  the  Chinese  in 
drawing  their  conclusions.  Religion  in  China  has  a 
deeper,  wider  influence  quite  outside  of  the  sphere  which 
we  are  commonly  disposed  to  associate  with  that  word, 
because  animism  must  always  do  this;  and  the  principal 
religion  of  China  is  in  reahty  nothing  more  than  the 
baldest  animism  which  has  controlled  the  people  even 
in  matters  of  the  most  trifling  importance.  This  charac- 
teristic is  precisely  the  same  as  is  foimd  at  the  base  of 
many  primitive  religions,  and  it  is  probably  the  same 
as  that  which  some  of  our  leading  philosophers  and  sociol- 
ogists, Herbert  Spencer,  for  example,  have  considered 
to  be  the  very  foundation  and  beginning  of  all  human 
religion,  no  matter  how  loftily  that  religion  may  subse- 
quently develop. 

There  are  really  but  three  forms  which  may  properly 
be  called  the  religions  of  China,  namely:  Confucianism, 
Taoism,  Buddhism.     It  is  not  necessary  to  separate 

80 


Chinese  in  Mandarin  Dress  in  Idol  Procession,  Shanghai 


A    TRANSFORMED     CHINA  8l 

ancestral  worship  from  Confucianism,  as  some  have 
done,  because  the  very  root  of  the  doctrine  taught  by 
"The  Master"  (that  is,  Confucius  himself)  was  the  care- 
ful preservation  of  the  memory  of  those  in  the  male  line 
only  who  had  gone  before  (the  women  of  the  Une  passing 
out  of  existence  physical  and  spiritual,  as  if  they  had 
never  been)  and  the  worship  of  their  tablets,  graves,  or 
shrines,  together  with  the  offering  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth.  Nor  is  it  essential  to  consider  Mahommedanism, 
because  it  is  insignificant  as  a  fact  and  immaterial  in  its 
influence.  It  is  largely  true,  almost  wholly  so,  that 
China,  until  a  very  few  years  ago,  had  adopted  nothing 
from  abroad  for  centuries;  even  the  form  of  Buddhism 
introduced  from  India  had  to  be  so  remodelled  to  suit 
its  Chinese  environment,  as  to  be  scarcely  recognizable 
by  the  professor  of  the  true  doctrine  taught  in  the  birth- 
land  of  the  rehgion.  Considering  the  antiquity  of  the 
Chinese  as  a  nation  and  the  solidarity  of  their  empire, 
it  is  a  reasonable  assumption  that  little  necessity  existed 
for  going  abroad  for  creeds  or  cults,  and  that  little  wel- 
come would  be  given  anything  of  the  kind  until  it  had 
undergone  a  transformation  bringing  it  into  harmony 
with  the  thoughts  of  the  people;  hence  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  popular  religion  of  China  is  a  primitive  form, 
evolved  from  primitive  times,  and  closely  allied  to  the 
cults  which  are  found  elsewhere  in  somewhat  similar 
circumstances. 

In  China,  animism  "is  based  on  an  impUcit  belief 
in  the  animation  of  the  universe,  and  of  every  being  or 
thing  which  exists  in  it.  The  oldest  and  holiest  books 
of  the  empire  teach  that  the  universe  consists  of  two 


82  THE     COMING    CHINA 

souls  or  breaths  called  Yang  and  Yin;  the  Yang  repre- 
senting hght,  warmth,  productivity,  and  life,  also  the 
heavens  from  which  all  these  good  things  emanate;  and 
the  Yin  being  associated  with  darkness,  cold,  death, 
and  the  earth.  The  Yang  is  subdivided  into  an  indefi- 
nite nvmiber  of  good  souls  or  spirits,  called  shen,  the  Yin 
into  particles  or  evil  spirits,  called  kwei,  spectres;  it  is 
these  shen  and  kwei  which  animate  every  being  and  every 
thing.  It  is  they  also  which  constitute  the  soul  of  man. 
His  shen,  also  called  kwun,  immaterial,  ethereal,  like 
heaven  itself,  from  which  it  emanates,  constitutes  his 
intellect  and  the  finer  parts  of  his  character,  his  virtues; 
while  his  kwei,  or  poh,  is  thought  to  represent  less  refined 
qualities,  his  passions,  vices,  they  being  borrowed  from 
material  earth.  Birth  consists  in  an  infusion  of  these 
souls;  death  in  their  departure,  the  shen  returning  to 
the  Yang  or  heaven,  the  kwei  to  the  Yin  or  earth."* 
This  universaHstic  animism  leads  most  naturally  to 
a  system  that  is  thoroughly  polytheistic  and  polyde- 
monistic.  There  are  gods  for  everything  animate  and 
inanimate,  material  and  spiritual,  even  abstract  ideas 
sometimes  being  considered  as  possessing  a  spirit,  while 
the  demon  world  is  nowhere  so  populous  as  in  China; 
they  haunt  every  nook  and  corner,  and  no  place  is  abso- 
lutely safe  from  them,  so  that  man  can  never  feel  he  is 
free  from  the  power  of  malign  spirits  —  not  even  when 
he  is  performing  his  devotions  and  within  what  should 
be  the  sacred  precincts  of  his  family  temple,  or  before 
the  shrines  of  his  ancestors.  It  is,  however,  in  China, 
as  it  is  in  all  other  parts  of  the  world,  that  at  night  the 
*"The  Religion  of  the  Chinese,"  De  Groot. 


A    TRANSFORMED    CHINA  83 

gravest  danger  exists;  there  is  a  semblance  of  security 
when  the  man  hides  his  head  beneath  the  shelter  of  his 
own  bedclothes;  but  the  unfortunate  wight  who  has  to 
be  abroad  at  night  is  truly  in  a  parlous  state.  Ghosts, 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  and  especially  those  of  the  improp- 
erly buried  dead,  are  the  subject  of  many  weird  tales 
which  give  an  inkling  of  what  this  fear  of  evil  spirits  is. 
The  belief  in  spectres  and  spectrophy  dominates  all 
but  the  most  classical  of  the  literature  of  China,  and  even 
from  that  it  is  not  entirely  absent;  these  stories  are  not 
mere  myths  or  "Old  Wives'  Tales"  in  the  opinion  of  the 
people,  they  are  very  truth  itself.  This  behef,  at  first 
somewhat  debased,  speedily  attains  to  a  semblance  of 
dignity  when  we  find  that  Confucius  himself,  tacitly 
admitting  his  own  firm  belief  in  spectres,  divided  them 
into  three  classes :  those  Uving  in  moim tains  and  forests, 
those  abiding  in  water,  and  those  that  haunt  the  ground. 
He  considered  the  first  class  to  be  the  most  dangerous; 
and  among  them  the  most  parlous  are  spectres  having 
but  one  eye,  at  the  top  of  the  head;  these,  by  their  pres- 
ence merely,  caused  drought,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
destruction  of  crops,  death,  famine,  —  all  of  which  mean 
in  China  destruction  of  thousands,  yes,  millions  of  lives. 
The  greater  part  of  the  second  class  of  spectres  are 
souls  of  drowned  men,  unable  to  release  themselves 
from  their  watery  grave  until  they  draw  another  human 
being  into  it.  The  third  class,  the  demons  who  haunt 
the  bowels  of  the  earth,  also  dwell  in  objects  firmly 
attached  to  the  soil:  in  houses  and  heavy  things.  As 
the  soil,  if  fecundated  by  the  celestial  sphere,  is  the 
productive  part  of  the  universe,  which  engenders  all 


84  THE    COMING    CHINA 

sorts  of  living  things,  disturbance  of  such  earth  spirits, 
by  digging  in  the  ground  or  moving  heavy  objects, 
naturally,  by  the  laws  of  sympathy  and  universalism, 
disturbs  the  repose  and  growth  of  the  embryo  in  the 
womb  of  the  woman. 

Thus  we  might  go  on  to  great  length  in  telling  of  the 
dread  which  the  Chinese  have  for  these  evil  spirits; 
and  it  is  amazing  to  us  that  so  much  importance  is  at- 
tached to  them  in  a  system  which  exerts  such  tremendous 
influence  as  do  the  teachings  of  Confucius.  If  there  is 
to  be  a  change  and  a  development  in  any  way  comparable 
with  that  of  the  West,  there  must  be  either  a  complete 
change  in  the  Confucian  Classics  or  a  discarding  of  them 
completely;  because  even  if  the  educated  men  of  China, 
the  statesmen  and  high-rank  literati,  disclaim  a  belief 
in  these  demons  and  spectres,  which  were  sanctioned 
and  firmly  recognized  by  Confucius  himself,  there  is 
little  doubt  that  most  of  them  are  still  under  the  full 
domination  of  the  polydemonism.  The  exceptions  are, 
for  the  most  part,  of  two  classes :  those  who  have  either 
honestly  professed  Christianity  and  replaced  their  Con- 
fucianism with  something  which  forever  dispels  such 
childish  fear;  and  those  who  have  renounced  Confucian- 
ism without  replacing  it  with  any  belief  at  all — agnostics 
and  atheists,  of  whom  there  are  many  among  the  "ad- 
vanced thinkers"  of  China.  The  very  inconsistency 
of  a  land  fully  equipped  with  universities,  public  schools, 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  modern  education,  traversed 
in  all  directions  with  railways,  and  having  factories 
of  all  kinds;  using  the  post,  the  telegraph,  and  the 
telephone  as  if  they  were  the  most  commonplace  things 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  85 

in  the  world;  and  yet  where  the  people  are  so  much 
afraid  of  the  maleficent  power  of  spirits  of  evil,  or  un- 
willing to  adventure  upon  any  enterprise  without  first 
propitiating  the  beneficent  ones  to  secure  their  co- 
operation, must  strike  one  as  being  the  very  acme  of 
absurdity.  Let  all  that  is  admirable,  and  there  is  much, 
in  Confucian  ethics  remain;  do  not  let  us  seek  to  destroy 
the  influence  of  his  teaching  in  the  matter  of  respect  for 
father  and  ancestors;  but  let  us  look  for  the  new  Chinese 
to  include  his  womankind  in  this  respect,  and  let  us 
believe  he  will  abandon  the  worship  of  all  ancestors  as 
if  they  were  the  actual  vicegerents  of  the  one  God,  in 
Whose  hands  alone  i^  the  control  of  the  present  and  the 
future,  and  Who  rules  the  darkness  as  He  does  the  day. 
So,  too,  with  the  second  form  of  religion  existing  in  China, 
that  of  the  Tao,  the  rationalism  derived  from  Lao-tsz, 
who  accordingly  to  the  Chinese  legends  was  born  604 
B.C.,  bringing  this  very  nearly  the  date  assigned  as 
the  birth  of  Confucius,  550  B.C.  and,  indeed,  the  two 
were  contemporaries,  in  a  sense,  for  his  historian  Sz'ma 
Tsien  tells  of  an  interview  which  Confucius  had  with 
Lao-tsz  when  the  former  was  thirty-four  years  old. 
The  fable  connected  with  his  birth  tells  that  he  was 
carried  in  his  mother's  womb  for  eighty  years,  hence 
he  was  called  Lao-tsz,  the  "old  boy,"  and  sometimes 
Lao-Kun,  the  "venerable  prince."  It  is  rather  doubt- 
ful how  much  there  is  in  Taoism  that  was  original  with 
any  Chinese  sage,  and  all  Sinologues  who  have  given 
any  thought  to  matters  relating  to  Chinese  religions 
agree  in  saying  that  whether  Lao-tsz's  teachings  were 
entirely  his  own  or  were,  in  part  if  not  altogether,  derived 


86  THE     COMING     CHINA 

from  hints  imported  from  India  or  Persia,  cannot  be 
decided.  The  unsatisfactory  nature  of  this  religion 
becomes  apparent  when  we  know  that  the  founder,  in 
his  striving  after  the  infinite,  can  describe  Tao  only  by 
declaring  what  it  is  not,  and  define  Teh  as  an  ideal  virtue 
which  no  man  can  attain.  "The  visible  forms  of  the 
highest  Teh  proceed  only  from  Tao;  and  Tao  is  a  thing 
impalpable,  indefinite.  How  indefinite?  How  impal- 
pable? And  yet  therein  are  forms  indefinite,  impalpable; 
and  yet  therein  are  essences.  These  essences  are  pro- 
foundly real,  and  therein  faith  is  found.  From  of  old 
till  now  its  name  has  never  passed  away.  It  gives  issue 
to  all  existences  at  their  beginning.  How  then  can  I 
know  the  manner  of  the  beginning  of  all  existences?  I 
know  it  by  this  Tao." 

If  Confucianism  seems  to  us  utterly  unsuited  for  those 
who  intend  to  take  a  part  in  the  vigorous,  practical, 
hard-working  life  of  the  advanced  world  of  to-day, 
because  of  its  taint  of  polydemonism,  its  masculine 
selfishness,  its  weak  agnosticism  and  general  unfitness; 
how  much  less  satisfactory  must  we  pronounce  a  (mis- 
called) religion  which  teaches  that  we  are  to  know  the 
manner  of  the  beginning  of  all  existences  by  our  knowl- 
edge of  something  which  cannot  be  defined.  Can  the 
illogical  go  further  in  absurdity? 

Of  Chinese  Buddism,  little  need  be  said.  Recognizing 
cheerfully  all  that  may  be  said  in  praise  of  the  pure 
doctrine  as  taught  by  Shakyamuni  himself,  and  as  pre- 
served for  some  time  in  India  and  Ceylon,  we  are  forced 
to  admit  that  this  religion  immediately  began  to  undergo 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  87 

a  process  of  modification  and  adaptation  to  its  strange 
surroundings;  and  this  process  went  on  for  such  a  length 
of  time  that  Indian  Buddhists,  who  say  they  themselves 
do  not  now  clearly  understand  the  original  teachings 
of  the  founder  of  their  Church,  declare  that  there  is 
nothing  in  Chinese  Buddhism  which  they  can  recognize 
or  tolerate.  In  China,  except  among  the  priests  and 
possibly  a  few  of  the  laity,  this  creed  is  now  openly 
reviled,  and  so  totally  unfitted  is  it  for  the  rehgious  needs 
of  a  citizen  of  the  world  in  this  twentieth  century 
strenuousness,  that  even  Japanese  Buddhist  priests  are 
carrying  on  a  vigorous  propaganda  in  China  in  the  hope 
of  rescuing  their  brethren  from  mental,  moral,  and 
material  destruction.  From  this  exceedingly  negative 
sketch  of  what  the  ethical  schools  and  religions  of  China 
have  done  to  qualify  the  people  of  that  land  for  active 
participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  yet  leave 
them  with  some  prospect  of  success  when  the  whole 
empire  becomes  imbued  with  Western  ideas  of  progress 
and  internal  improvement,  it  is  not  easy  for  the  casual 
reader  to  make  up  his  mind  that  the  Chinese  people,  as 
a  whole,  are  anywhere  near  fitted  to  take  up  the  task 
and  prosecute  it  to  final  success.  China  is  unquestion- 
ably heavily  handicapped  in  the  race  that  her  new  leaders 
have  entered,  for  there  is  this  frightful  incubus  of  a 
false  religion  and  a  defective  ethical  code  to  be  thrown 
over.  When  such  an  intelligent  man  as  Chang  Chih- 
tung  implores  his  countrymen  of  all  ranks,  the  learned 
and  the  uneducated,  the  strong  and  the  weak,  to  main- 
tain the  reigning  dynasty  which  he  declares  is  open  and 
above  board  in  its  dealings,  although  we  who  are  on  the 


88  THE    COMING    CHINA 

outside  and  therefore  see  China  from  a  vantage  ground, 
are  justified  in  entertaining  some  doubt  on  this  score; 
when  he  beseeches  the  Chinese  people  to  be  earnest  and 
thorough  in  their  adherence  to  the  true  religion,  that  is, 
Confucianism;  and  when  he  demands  that  the  Confu- 
cian Classics  be  made  the  basis  of  education,  we  cannot 
but  feel  apprehensive  as  to  the  wisdom  of  following  such 
advice.  Yet  even  here  there  is  a  gleam  of  hope;  for, 
after  he  had  written  his  famous  book  which  is  known  by 
the  title  of  "China's  Only  Hope,"  he  himself  amended 
his  views  as  to  the  best  course  for  modern  education  to 
take,  as  will  be  made  clear  when  this  subject  of  the  new 
education  for  China  shall  engage  our  attention.  If  it 
were  possible  for  the  Chinese  people  to  rid  themselves  of 
their  existing  burden  of  so  many  thousands  of  priests, 
Taoist  and  Buddhist,  who  are  not  even  making  an 
effort  to  adapt  themselves  to  changed  and  changing 
conditions,  by  establishing  schools  and  universities 
wherein  are  taught  much  of  Western  learning,  while 
still  preserving  faithful  allegiance  to  the  Buddhist  or 
Taoist  doctrine ;  if  these  priests  could  but  see  the  neces- 
sity to  themselves  as  well  as  to  their  country  of  imitating 
in  this  respect  the  example  set  by  the  advanced  Buddhists 
of  Japan,  particularly  the  Hongwanji  —  who  are  called 
the  Protestant  Buddhists  of  Japan  because  of  their 
broad  culture  and  wise  adoption  of  methods  until  lately 
unknown  to  all  Buddhists  —  there  would  be  more  hope 
for  China  than  there  is.  These  Hongwanji  Buddhists 
in  Japan  have  opened  kindergartens,  schools  for  boys 
and  girls,  hospitals  for  both  sexes,  lying-in  homes  for 
poor  women,  and  all  sorts  of  eleemosynary  institutions; 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  89 

but  we  should  look  over  the  whole  of  China  in  vain  for 
anything  of  a  kindred  nature  in  that  great  empire,  under 
management  and  maintenance  of  native  priests  of  Con- 
fucianism, or  Buddhism,  or  Taoism. 

But  there  are  other  signs  that  are  more  hopeful,  indica- 
tions that  give  us  some  inkling  of  what  the  Coming 
China  may  be  when  the  leaven  now  working  shall  have 
spread  far  and  wide.  It  is  but  half  a  score  of  years 
back  to  1900,  and  yet  when  we  think  of  what  has  been 
done  in  those  ten  years,  we  must  admit  that  the  promise 
of  greater  things  is  good,  indeed.  Admitting  that  China 
was  utterly  apathetic,  indifferent  to  all  things  outside 
of  her  own  ways  —  ways  that  had  crystallized  into  almost 
hopeless  rigidity  —  a  comparison  of  China  to-day  even 
with  what  that  country  was  in  1894,  after  Japan  had 
administered  such  a  severe  yet  salutary  lesson,  shows  us 
that  the  immobility  has  long  since  given  way  to  an 
activity  which  is  amazing. 

It  began,  however,  in  a  wrong  way;  such  reforms  as 
rulers  conceive  to  be  for  the  good  of  their  subjects  or 
nationals,  cannot  be  accomplished  by  academic  procla- 
mation; and  even  in  China,  an  imperial  decree  is 
nothing  more  than  the  paper  on  which  it  is  written,  if 
the  ojQ&cials  ignore  it  or  fail  to  give  it  support,  and  if  the 
populace  refuse  to  obey.  Dr.  Headland,  in  ''Court 
Life  in  China,"  says:  "I  doubt  if  any  Chinese  monarch 
has  ever  had  a  more  far-reaching  influence  over  the  minds 
of  the  young  men  of  the  empire  than  Kuang  Hsii  had 
from  1895  to  1898."  During  all  that  time  the  Emperor 
had  been  studying  foreign  books;  by  some  it  is  declared 
he  did  this  in  the  original  language,  when  that  was 


90  THE     COMING    CHINA 

English  or  German,  while  others  insist  that  he  could 
do  nothing  with  anything  but  Chinese  translations. 
But  be  the  manner  what  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  the 
Emperor  was  absorbing  much  knowledge  of  a  kind  which 
had  certainly  never  come  within  the  education  of  any 
of  his  predecessors  on  the  throne  of  China;  the  knowl- 
edge, however,  was  not  properly  assimilated,  as  results 
show,  yet  it  was  one  link  in  a  chain  of  events  which 
connected  old  China  with  the  new,  and  the  fabric  was 
something  unique.  The  influence  which  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii  was  able  to  exert  upon  the  young  men  of  his  country 
was  much  affected,  and  undoubtedly  helped  greatly,  by 
the  preparation  which  had  been  going  on  for  nearly  two- 
score  years  in  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  various 
Christian  missions  and  those  under  the  direct  supervision 
of  the  Imperial  Government.  "From  these  schools 
there  had  gone  out  a  great  number  of  young  men  who 
had  taken  positions  in  all  departments  of  business,  and 
many  of  the  departments  of  State  Government,  and 
revealed  to  the  officials,  as  well  as  to  many  of  the  people, 
the  power  of  foreign  education."* 

One  interesting  evidence  of  the  keen  attention  given 
at  that  time  by  these  young  Chinese  students  of  Western 
education  is  indicated  by  a  statement  made  to  Dr. 
Headland,  upon  his  asking  the  reason  for  a  request  to 
himself  of  a  list  of  the  best  newspapers  and  periodicals 
published  in  both  England  and  America.  "The  young 
Chinese  reformers  in  Peking  have  organized  a  Reform 
Club.  Some  of  them  read  and  speak  English,  others 
French,  others  German,  and  still  others  Russian,  and  we 

*  Headland,  op.  cit. 


Athletes  of  Sr.  John's  University,  Shanghai 


'The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  by  Chinese  Students  at  St.  John's 
University,  Shanghai 


A    TRANSFORMED    CHINA  9I 

are  providing  ourselves  with  all  the  leading  periodicals 
of  these  various  countries  that  we  may  read  and  study 
them.  We  have  rented  a  building,  prepared  rooms,  and 
propose  to  have  a  club  where  we  can  assemble,  whenever 
we  have  leisure,  for  conversation,  discussion,  reading, 
lectures,  or  whatever  will  best  contribute  to  the  ends  in 
view."  On  asking  for  information  as  to  those  ends, 
the  reply  was:  "The  bringing  about  of  a  new  reign  in 
China.  Our  recent  defeat  by  the  Japanese  has  shown 
us  that  unless  some  radical  changes  are  made  we  must 
take  a  second  place  among  the  people  of  the  Orient." 

This  movement  had  been  started  in  the  outer  provinces 
some  time  before  it  appeared  as  a  moving  force  in  the 
capital.  In  many  of  these  districts  it  was  declared  that 
all  the  literati,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  these 
were  the  only  men,  until  that  time,  who  were  considered 
jB.tted  for  official  positions  of  any  kind  whatsoever, 
judicial,  civil,  military;  these  scholars,  except  a  few  of 
the  oldest,  those  who  would  naturally  be  ultra-conserva- 
tive, were  discarding  their  Confucian  theories  and  recon- 
structing their  ideas  to  conform  with  the  new  view  of 
living  problems  affecting  society  and  government. 

The  leader  of  this  reform  party  was  Kang  Yu-wei. 
Like  most  of  his  class  of  those  who  are  determined  not 
only  that  China  shall  not  be  a  second-rank  nation  of 
the  Far  East,  but  that  she  shall  take  her  rightful  place 
among  the  great  Powers  of  the  world,  Kang  was  a  pure 
Chinese,  a  native  of  the  southern  city,  Canton.  He  had 
given  special  attention  to  the  subject  of  government  and 
social  reforms,  such  as  those  which  Peter  the  Great  had 
wrought  in  Russia,  and  the  then  recent  reorganization 


92  THE     COMING    CHINA 

of  Japan's  social  system.  He  had  written  a  history  of 
the  latter  series  of  episodes,  in  two  volumes,  which  he 
had  been  permitted  to  present  to  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii. 
Kang  Yu-wei  was  a  daring  character,  one  possessing 
traits  which  appealed  strongly  to  the  Emperor,  who 
granted  him  audience ;  and  later  he  had  a  long  interview 
with  the  ofl&cial  heads  of  the  Chinese  Foreign  Ofl&ce 
(Department  of  State),  when  he  expressed  himself  in 
such  a  way  as  must  have  startled  those  ministers  almost 
to  the  verge  of  dissolution.  He  insisted  that  China 
should  imitate  Japan  in  giving  up  the  old,  obsolete, 
cumbersome  methods  of  administration;  that  the  old 
conservative  Minister  of  State  and  Viceroys,  ruling 
provinces  and  prefectures  with  almost  regal  indepen- 
dence, should  be  replaced  by  young  men  imbued  with 
Western  ideas,  who  should  be  permitted  to  confer  daily 
with  the  Emperor  just  as  measures  of  administrarion 
or  reform  seemed  to  them  to  justify  such  consultation. 
Of  course  this  suggestion  was  disapproved  by  the  ad- 
visers of  His  Majesty,  yet,  nevertheless,  Kang  was  asked 
to  embody  his  plan  in  a  memorial  which  reached  the 
Emperor,  who  eventually  called  him  to  the  palace  to 
render  assistance  in  carrying  out  reforms  which  the 
Emperor  had  undertaken. 

Unfortunately  for  himself,  for  the  Emperor,  for  all  of 
China,  Kang  Yu-wei  was  not  the  statesman  that  he  was 
reformer;  had  there  been  coupled  with  his  enthusiasm 
a  commensurate  discretion,  he  might,  thirteen  years 
ago,  have  inaugurated  the  reform  which  shall  ere  long 
bring  about  ''the  Coming  China";  he  might  have 
helped  to  change  the  current  of  thought  so  as  to  prevent 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  93 

the  horrors  of  the  "Boxer"  Insurrection  and  accompany- 
ing murder  of  innocent  foreigners ;  and  he  might,  perhaps, 
have  guided  the  young  Emperor  so  skilfully  as  to  pre- 
vent his  deposition,  his  humiliation,  and  his  death  in 
circumstances  which  must  always  remain  doubtful. 
But  enthusiasm  carried  away  both  would-be  adviser 
and  his  Imperial  pupil.  The  times,  perhaps,  were  not 
yet  ripe;  certainly  things  moved  too  fast.  On  June 
23,  1898,  an  edict  was  issued  abolishing  the  literary 
essay  of  the  old  regime  as  a  part  of  the  government 
examination,  and  substituting  therefor  various  branches 
of  the  new  learning.  It  has  already  been  told  what  were 
the  standards  for  determining  excellence  in  these  essays : 
pedantic  erudition,  pureness  of  literary  style,  penman- 
ship, and  strict  conforming  with  rules  for  mechanical 
arrangement;  and  how  the  "passing"  determined  the 
fitness  of  these  literati  to  be  officers  of  the  army,  or  of  the 
navy  (when  there  was  one),  or  magistrates.  The  Em- 
peror accompanied  the  edict  with  a  notice  in  the  "Peking 
Gazette"  (the  official  journal):  "We  have  been  com- 
pelled to  issue  this  decree,  because  our  examinations 
have  reached  the  lowest  ebb,  and  we  see  no  remedy  for 
these  matters  except  to  change  entirely  the  old  methods 
for  a  new  course  of  competition." 

This  was  declared  by  the  conservatives,  among  whom 
the  Manchus  were  the  most  outspoken,  to  be  an  out- 
rageous, unwarranted,  impossible  onslaught  upon  the 
established  system  which  had  been  found  perfectly 
satisfactory  for  centuries;  while  the  reformers  said  it 
was  the  greatest  step  forward  that  could  have  been  taken. 
We  should  note  carefully  that  this  edict  was  promulgated 


94  THE     COMING    CHINA 

by  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii,  as  of  his  own  motion,  in  1898. 
It  was  recalled  speedily,  of  course,  when  the  old  Empress 
Dowager  deposed  the  Emperor  and  took  into  her  own 
hands  the  reins  of  government;  but  when  the  time  seemed 
right  for  her  to  put  forth  the  same  command,  she  did  so 
in  nearly  the  identical  language  that  Kuang  Hsii  had 
used;  to  the  latter,  then,  really  belongs  the  credit  for 
initiating  this  reform;  the  greatest  that  has,  as  yet, 
been  known  in  the  Chinese  Empire. 

After  that,  these  Imperial  decrees,  upsetting  nearly 
everything  which  had  been  in  government,  in  adminis- 
tration, in  social  organization,  and  substituting  reforms 
which  were  so  radical  as  almost  to  take  away  the  breath 
of  the  leading  reformers,  came  thick  and  fast.  In  about 
two  months'  time,  twenty-seven  appeared  in  the  "Peking 
Gazette,"  and  an  epitome  of  these  is  given  by  Dr. 
Headland;  from  his  list  most  of  the  following  informa- 
tion is  taken,  but  to  the  items  of  which  certain  additions 
have  been  made  to  give  them  their  justly  due  full  force. 

First.  The  establishment  of  an  imperial  university  at 
Peking,  which  was  to  be  administered  without  prejudice 
in  the  matter  of  religion;  in  other  words,  to  be  non- 
sectarian,  as  nearly  as  possible. 

Second.  The  sending  of  imperial  clansmen  to  foreign 
countries  to  study  the  forms  and  conditions  of  European 
and  American  government,  with  the  special  object  of 
qualifying  these  Manchus  to  be  helpful  in  perpetuating 
the  present  dynasty;  this  was  actually  done  in  1906. 

Third.  The  encouragement  of  arts,  sciences,  and 
modern  agriculture,  almost  wholly  along  Western  lines. 

Fourth.  The  Emperor  expressed  himself  as  willing  to 


A    TRANSFORMED     CHINA  95 

hear  the  objections  of  the  Conservatives  to  progress  and 
reform. 

Fifth.  Abolished  the  literary  essay  as  a  prominent 
part  of  the  government  examination. 

Sixth.  Censured  those  who  attempted  to  delay  the 
establishment  of  the  Peking  Imperial  University,  be- 
cause there  had  been,  naturally,  the  most  intense  feeling 
of  opposition  to  this  extreme  measure,  which  would 
destroy  the  whole  educational  structure  based  upon 
precedent. 

Seventh.  Urged  that  the  Lu-Han  (that  is,  the  Peking- 
Hankow- Canton)  railway  should  be  prosecuted  with 
more  vigour  and  expedition.  It  is  almost  needless  to 
say  that  the  conservatives  of  China  were  and  are  opposed 
to  railway  development,  and  for  just  the  same  reasons 
that  appeared  in  Europe  to  oppose  general  education, 
the  power  which  comes  with  knowledge  was  deemed  a 
dangerous  thing  to  put  into  the  hands  of  the  masses: 
and  railways  are  a  wonderful  educator. 

Eighth.  Advised  the  adoption  of  Western  arms  and 
drill  for  all  the  Tartar  troops. 

Ninth.  Ordered  the  establishment  of  agricultural 
schools  in  all  the  provinces,  to  teach  the  farmers  im- 
proved methods  of  agriculture.  While  it  has  always 
seemed  as  if  the  Chinese  were  exceptionally  expert  in 
cultivating  their  fields,  yet  we  know  that  the  returns 
are  far  below  what  they  should  be  for  the  amount  of 
labour  bestowed. 

Tenth.  Ordered  the  introduction  of  patent  and  copy- 
right laws.  One  of  the  very  few  reform  measures  that 
do   not   appeal   to   the   advanced   Chinese;  for   native 


96  THE     COMING    CHINA 

manufacturers  —  in  China  as  in  Japan  —  are  shrewd 
in  "pirating." 

Eleventh.  The  Board  of  War  and  the  Foreign  Office 
were  ordered  to  report  on  the  reform  of  the  military 
examination. 

Twelfth.  Special  rewards  were  to  be  offered  to  in- 
ventors and  authors. 

Thirteenth.  The  officials  were  ordered  to  encourage 
trade  and  to  assist  merchants. 

Fourteenth.  School  boards  were  ordered  to  be  estab- 
lished in  every  city  in  the  empire;  as  a  preliminary  to 
a  system  of  general  and  compulsory  education  which 
had  never  before  been  so  much  as  dreamt  of  in  China. 

Fifteenth.  Bureaus  of  Mines  and  of  Railways  were 
established. 

Sixteenth.  Journalists  were  encouraged  to  write  on 
political  subjects,  and  a  certain  "freedom  of  the  press" 
was  to  be  ensured. 

Seventeenth.  Naval  academies  and  training  ships  were 
ordered;  a  new,  modern  Chinese  Navy  being  one  of  the 
dreams  of  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii. 

Eighteenth.  The  Ministers  of  State  {i.e.  the  Cabinet 
Ofl&cers)  and  the  provincial  and  prefectural  authorities 
were  called  upon  to  assist  —  yes,  were  begged  to  make 
some  effort  to  understand  what  the  Emperor  was  trying 
to  do  —  and  to  help  him  in  his  efforts  at  reform. 

Nineteenth.  Schools  were  ordered  in  connection  with 
all  the  Chinese  Legations  in  foreign  countries  for  the 
benefit  of  the  children  of  Chinese  in  those  places.  This, 
it  should  be  understood,  was  mainly  to  give  those  children 
instruction  in  the  Chinese  language  and  literature,  for 


A    TRANSFORMED     CHINA  97 

it  is  not  the  intention  of  even  the  most  extreme  reformers 
to  wipe  out  these,  or  even  to  lessen  materially  their  in- 
fluence when  governed  by  modern  principles.  As  to 
the  language  of  the  country  in  which  was  a  particular 
Legation,  it  was  hoped  that  ample  facilities  would  be 
afforded  by  the  public  schools  of  the  state. 

Twentieth.  Commercial  bureaus  were  ordered  in 
Shanghai  for  the  encouragement  of  trade. 

Twenty-first.  Six  useless  Boards  connected  with  the 
government  in  Peking  were  abolished;  this  measure 
caused  a  veritable  storm  of  opposition  as  destructive  of 
established  precedent. 

Twenty-second.  The  right  to  memoriaHze  the  throne 
in  sealed  memorials  was  granted  to  all  who  desired  to  do 
so.  This  was  one  of  the  most  radical  of  measures.  The 
right  to  address  the  Emperor  had  been  most  jealously 
guarded;  no  one  might  do  so  direct  save  His  Majesty's 
ministers,  or  those  who  were  specially  ordered  to  do  so. 
In  the  latter  case,  the  document  was  opened  and  read 
by  the  particular  minister  within  whose  jurisdiction  it 
came,  and  it  was  probably  discussed  in  Council.  It 
may  be  taken  for  gi-anted  that  very  few  of  these  memo- 
rials ever  reached  the  hands  of  the  Emperor. 

Twenty-third.  Two  presidents  and  four  vice-presi- 
dents of  the  Board  of  Rites  were  dismissed  for  disobeying 
the  Emperor's  orders  that  memorials  should  be  allowed 
to  come  to  him  unopened;  and  promptly  reinstalled 
when  the  Empress  Dowager  took  charge  of  affairs. 

Twenty-fourth.  The  governorships  of  Hupeh,  Kuang- 
tung,  and  Yunnan  were  abolished  as  being  a  useless 
expense  to  the  country;  the  administration  of  affairs 


98  THE     COMING     CHINA 

in  these  important  provinces  being  amply  provided  for 
through  viceroys. 

Twenty-fifth.  Schools  of  instruction  in  the  production 
of  tea  and  silk  were  ordered  established. 

Twenty-sixth.  The  slow  "courier"  posts  were  abol- 
ished in  favour  of  the  Imperial  Customs  Post;  this  being 
merely  a  preliminary  to  what  is  now  nearly  an  accom- 
plished Imperial  Post  Office  service. 

Twenty-seventh.  A  system  of  budgets  as  in  Western 
countries  was  approved;  this  centraKzing  of  national 
income  and  expenditure  was  a  measure  of  far  greater 
importance  in  China  than  in  other  countries;  for  finan- 
cial matters  were  largely  entrusted  to  local  viceroys  or 
governors,  appointed  by  the  proper  Board  at  Peking, 
and  this  interference  with  their  prerogative  was  hotly 
resented. 

This  list  is  particularly  interesting  because  it  gives  a 
clue  to  the  character  of  what  the  Emperor  had  been 
studying,  and  indicates  its  influence  upon  his  mind. 
That  he  was  in  too  great  haste  to  accomplish  all  this, 
was  partly  his  own  fault  and  partly  that  of  his  over- 
zealous,  too  enthusiastic  young  advisers.  Yet  still  it 
must  be  admitted  by  every  careful  student  of  the  full 
text  of  the  edicts  themselves,  and  also  it  must  be  clear 
to  those  who  read  this  synopsis  only,  that  there  is  not 
one  that  would  not  have  been  of  the  greatest  possible 
benefit  to  the  country  if  it  had  been  put  into  operation. 
"If  the  Emperor  had  been  allowed  to  proceed  making 
them  all  as  effective  as  he  did  the  Imperial  University, 
and  if  the  minister  and  provincial  authorities  had  re- 
sponded to  his  call,  and  had  made  '  some  effort  to  under- 


A    TRANSFORMED     CHINA  99 

stand  what  he  was  trying  to  do,'  China  might  by  this 
time  have  been  close  upon  the  heels  of  Japan  in  the  adop- 
tion of  Western  ideas. "     (Headland) 

Between  the  date  when  the  last  of  these  admirable 
edicts  was  issued  and  the  time  when  fierce  opposition 
thereto  asserted  itself,  and  the  taking  back  by  the  Em- 
press Dowager  into  her  own  hands  absolutely  and  openly 
the  whole  administration  of  the  government,  there  are 
many  interesting,  exciting,  and  history-making  incidents 
which  must  be  passed  over.  Her  Majesty,  the  Empress 
Dowager,  had  been  spending  the  hot  summer  time  at 
the  summer  palace,  quietly  watching  affairs.  When 
the  time  came  for  her  to  act,  and  she  evinced  no  pre- 
cipitancy, she  did  so  without  much  bluster,  without  any 
apparent  confusion,  but  with  an  effectiveness  which  was 
most  startling.  In  September  of  the  same  year  in  which 
Kuang  Hsii  began  what  he  sincerely  believed  was  to  be 
his  great  reform,  the  Empress  Dowager  took  control  of 
the  affairs  of  state  and  put  her  nephew  into  prison,  and 
he  was  never  again  to  occupy  the  throne.  His  winter 
palace  was  his  prison,  and  here,  for  many  months,  he 
was  confined  in  a  gilded  cage  of  a  house,  until  his 
health  gave  way,  he  sickened,  and  died;  at  least  that 
is  the  story  we  were  told. 

The  imprisoned  Emperor  read  the  ''Peking  Gazette," 
which,  with  a  refinement  of  cruelty,  was  given  him  day 
by  day  that  he  might  see  how  his  proposed  reforms  were 
one  by  one  swept  out  of  existence  by  the  command  of 
his  august  aunt.  No,  they  were  not  swept  out  of  exist- 
ence; they  were  merely  laid  aside,  sometimes  the  re- 
scinding edicts  being  signed  with  his  own  name;  and  in 


lOO  THE     COMING     CHINA 

due  time  they  were  revivified  and  made  to  appear  as 
the  gracious  act  of  the  Empress  Dowager  herself.  That 
something  had  impressed  Her  Majesty  with  the  necessity 
for  doing  something  for  China  is  now  quite  certain; 
the  policy  of  seclusion  had  come  to  an  end;  there  must 
be  a  recognition  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  an  assumption 
of  responsibility  towards  other  states. 

When  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  was  brought  —  under 
guard  of  the  Empress'  trusted  eunuchs  —  from  his 
prison  on  the  Chinese  New  Year's  day  of  1899,  to  receive 
the  salutations  and  compliments  of  the  foreign  ministers 
accredited  to  his  court,  about  all  that  remained  of  his 
reform  were  the  Peking  University  and  some  provincial 
and  other  schools.  It  was  not  long  after  this  New  Year's 
audience  that  the  Empress  Dowager,  who  had  never 
been  seen  by  a  foreigner  and  who,  probably,  had  not 
herself  looked  upon  one,  decided  to  receive  the  wives  of 
the  foreign  ministers.  It  was  a  successful  experiment, 
let  the  motive  for  it  be  what  it  may;  the  foreign  ladies 
were  charmed  with  her  manner,  touched  by  the  appear- 
ance of  soHcitude  for  their  welfare  that  Her  Majesty 
showed  when  she  touched  her  own  lips  to  each  cup  of 
tea  presented  to  her  guests  (to  show  that  it  was  not 
poisoned),  and  entertained  in  a  way  far  exceeding  their 
anticipations.  She  now  assumed  the  role  of  reformer 
and  friend  of  the  foreigner,  and  so  well  did  she  play  her 
part  (if  she  really  was  deceiving  everybody)  that  most 
of  the  foreign  observers  were  led  to  credit  her  alone  with 
the  initiative  in  everything  savouring  of  reform.  Our 
own  minister  at  the  time,  Colonel  Denby,  said:  "It  will 
not  be  denied  by  any  one  that  the  improvement  and 


Memorial  Arch  in  the  Gkolnds  oi  one  of  the  Large 
Merchants'  Guilds 


Memorial  to  Baron  \  on  Klitler,   Peking 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  lOI 

progress  are  mainly  due  to  the  will  and  power  of  the 
Empress  Regent.  To  her  own  people,  up  to  this  period 
in  her  career,  she  was  kind  and  merciful,  and  to  foreigners 
she  was  just." 

Then  came  a  remarkable  relapse,  when  the  Empress 
Dowager  turned  against  the  foreigners,  incited  to  do  so 
by  what  causes  we  cannot  know  well,  although  we  are 
justified  in  assuming  that  she  listened  to  evil  advisers, 
and  misunderstood  entirely  the  motives  which  influenced 
those  who  were  really  working  for  China's  good.  That 
she  was  indirectly,  if  not  directly,  responsible  for  the 
Boxer  outrage,  cannot  be  doubted;  and  the  farce  of  the 
Chinese  Government  officials  sending  presents  of  fruit 
and  food  to  the  little  band  of  foreigners  penned  up  in 
the  British  Legation  Compound,  while  the  Boxers  were 
acting  like  wild  beasts  outside  the  walls,  with  the  solici- 
tous inquiry,  could  they  do  nothing  to  alleviate  the  suffer- 
ing of  their  unfortunate  friends?  now  causes  a  smile; 
but  at  the  time  added  much  to  the  indignation  of  the 
victims.  But  from  the  time  when  the  Empress  returned 
with  the  Court  from  their  flight  in  1900,  until  her  death, 
she  became  a  great  reformer ;  it  cannot  be  strictly  correct 
to  call  her  "the  greatest  that  ever  sat  upon  the  dragon 
throne,"  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  was  all  the 
time  merely  carrying  out  plans  which  had  been  formu- 
lated by  others,  mainly  her  nephew,  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii,  and  his  advisers,  upon  some  of  whom  she  had 
wreaked  her  vengeance  most  brutally. 

We  must,  however,  briefly  state  the  process  and  some 
of  the  details  of  the  reforms  which  the  Empress  Dowager 
set  on  foot  immediately  upon  her  return  to  Peking  in 


I02  THE     COMING     CHINA 

1902,  before  we  proceed  to  venture  on  a  surmise  as  to 
what  there  may  soon  be  as  the  possibilities  for  a  trans- 
formed China.  She  began  at  home,  with  the  customs 
of  the  Court,  when  she  received  the  ladies  of  the  diplo- 
matic circle,  and  her  remarkable  personality  asserted 
itself  here,  for  most  of  those  ladies  went  to  the  palace 
filled  with  indignation  at  their  hostess  for  her  inability 
(or  was  it  unwillingness?)  to  protect  themselves  and 
their  families  during  the  Summer  of  1900;  but  they 
came  away  in  a  very  different  frame  of  mind,  entirely 
placated  and  ready  to  believe  that  Her  Majesty  was 
really  in  earnest  in  her  effort  to  wipe  out  the  past  and 
"for  all  of  us  to  be  of  one  family." 

Her  next  great  move  is  said  to  have  been  suggested 
to  her  in  a  dream,  that  most  potent  method  in  China  of 
teaching  mortals  what  the  gods  wish  and  upon  which 
they  will  bestow  their  favour.  This  dream  was  to  change 
China  from  a  despotic,  irresponsible  monarchy  into  a 
constitutional  one;  to  grant  to  the  people  all  the  bless- 
ings which  come  with  a  constitution,  as  well  as  to  teach 
them  to  bear  the  burdens  of  responsibility  which  this 
blessing  carries  with  it.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
this  truly  great  woman,  although  she  had  been  the  con- 
cubine and  afterwards  the  "first"  wife  of  a  Manchu  em- 
peror, and  was  herself  of  the  Mongolian  race,  "was  born 
in  a  small  house,  in  a  narrow  street  inside  of  the  east  gate 
of  the  Tartar  city  —  the  gate  that  was  blown  up  by  the 
Japanese  when  they  entered  Peking  in  1900  —  and  her 
father's  name  was  Chao,  he  was  a  petty  military  oflScial 
who  was  afterwards  beheaded  for  some  neglect  of  duty." 
Therefore  she  was  in  no  way  of  the  blood  royal,  and  her 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  103 

place  in  the  palace  was  secured  through  following  the  cus- 
tom of  registering  all  Manchu  girls  in  order  that,  when  it 
was  so  desired,  the  most  attractive  might  be  drafted  into 
the  palace.  A  certain  complication,  therefore,  arose  in 
this  constitution-giving  scheme.  The  gift  would,  of  neces- 
sity, come  from  the  Manchus,  because  they  were  in  control 
of  the  government;  while  the  Empress  Dowager  wished 
to  have  the  honour  of  conferring  the  gift  reflect  upon 
herself  alone.  The  conservatives,  with  whom  she  had 
associated  herself  when  she  dethroned  Emperor  Kuang 
Hsii,  were  furious  and  stood  ready  to  do  everything  in 
their  power  to  prevent  this  wild  move;  but  the  Empress 
called  to  her  aid  the  greatest  and  most  progressive  of 
the  Manchus,  viceroy  of  Shensi,  and  appointed  him 
head  of  a  commission  to  be  sent  abroad  to  examine  care- 
fully the  various  forms  of  constitutional  government. 
It  will  be  recalled  how  some  of  the  rabid  conservatives 
tried  to  blow  up  this  commission  as  it  was  entraining 
at  Peking  Palace  Station,  and  how  the  attempt  failed. 
The  commission  returned,  made  its  report,  and  definite 
action  on  the  matters  was  deferred  "for  several  years." 
Then  came  the  Empress  Dowager's  crusade  against 
opium,  and  this  indicates  no  hah-hearted  measures. 
Her  edict  that  "within  a  limit  of  ten  years  this  injurious 
filth  shall  be  completely  swept  away"  has  a  true  ring; 
and  the  action  of  provincial  officials  bears  testimony  to 
the  conviction  that  the  Chinese  officials  and  people 
realize  that  this  curse  must  be  done  away  with  if  there  is 
to  be  real  progress  of  any  kind.  Next  to  China,  Great 
Britain  is  the  party  most  affected  by  this  movement 
towards   reform.     When  this  edict  was  issued,  Great 


I04  THE     COMING    CHINA 

Britain  was  shipping  annually  fifty  thousand  chests  of 
opium  to  the  Chinese  market,  nearly  five-sixths  of  the 
whole  Indian  output;  but  the  British  Government  at 
once  agreed  that  if  China  was  sincere  in  her  desire  for  re- 
form, and  cut  off  her  own  domestic  productions  at  the 
rate  of  ten  per  cent  per  annum,  she  would  decrease  her 
trade  at  a  similar  rate.  China  has  shown  her  sincerity. 
Has  Great  Britain? 

These  are  the  most  important  measures  originated  by 
the  Empress  Dowager,  and  in  addition  to  these  she  has 
gone  about  carrying  forward  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii's 
efforts  in  her  own  way.  A  Railway  Board,  a  Board  of 
Mines,  and  other  governmental  establishments  have 
been  organized  along  the  fines  he  sketched  out;  while 
educational  institutions  planned  on  those  of  the  West 
were  ordered.  Her  nephew's  act  of  aboHshing  the  old 
system  of  examinations,  condemned  so  furiously  for  a 
while,  was  restored,  but  his  glory  was  somewhat  dimin- 
ished by  tacking  onto  it  a  new  scheme  whereby  all  those 
who  have  been  graduated  by  reputable  American  or 
European  colleges  may  obtain  Chinese  degrees  and  be 
entitled  to  hold  office  under  the  government,  by  passing 
satisfactory  examinations,  mainly  as  a  matter  of  form, 
the  diploma  or  diplomas  they  hold  having  the  greatest 
possible  bearing. 

This,  then,  is  the  story  of  reform  in  China  that  really 
began  less  than  ten  years  ago,  and  the  continuation  to 
that  date  should  convince  every  one  of  the  sincerity 
of  that  desire  for  change  which  shall  make  for  good.  For 
the  material,  industrial,  and  commercial  progress  has 
been  simply  astonishing.     We  may  almost  say  that  this 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  I05 

renaissance  began  at  its  earliest  in  1894,  after  the  defeat 
in  war  which  China  suffered  at  Japan's  hands.  Nearly 
all  the  world  then  thought  that  mighty  China,  with  its 
unlimited  resources  in  wealth,  material,  and  men,  would 
simply  overwhelm  little  Japan;  but  not  all  people  were 
so  confident  of  this  as  scarcely  to  have  a  doubt  as  to  the 
issue.  China  was  in  no  condition  to  fight.  She  had 
refused  to  take  lessons  from  those  who  were  competent 
to  teach  her.  Even  the  lesson  of  the  Taeping  Rebellion, 
which  could  not  be  put  down  until  "Chinese"  Gordon, 
an  Englishman,  came  to  her  rescue,  taught  her  "ever- 
victorious  army"  how  to  fight,  and  then  personally  led 
it  to  conquest,  had  been  forgotten  or  ignored  by  the 
mandarin  army  officers.  What  might  have  been  a  very 
decent  fleet  of  war-vessels,  had  they  not  been  shame- 
lessly neglected  and  badly  equipped  as  to  guns,  and  worse 
supplied  with  ammunition,  was  not  properly  oj6&cered  by 
men  who  depended  largely  for  their  knowledge  of  naval 
tactics  upon  their  attainments  in  the  Confucian  Classics. 
But  the  lesson  of  that  defeat  was  taken  to  heart  by  some, 
for  after  that  a  small  body  of  earnest  Chinese,  some  of 
whom  had  been  educated  abroad,  and  others,  open- 
minded  younger  men  who  had  already  begun  to  get  away 
from  the  deadening  influences  of  the  old  regime,  were 
untiring  in  their  efforts  for  the  New  China.  In  the  reac- 
tion of  September,  1898,  which  followed  the  young 
Emperor's  premature  reform  decrees,  six  of  these  young 
men  died  as  martyrs  to  the  new  cause,  beheaded  by 
command  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  yet  —  like  other 
martyrs  in  other  lands  —  protesting  to  the  last  that  by 
reason  of  their  death  the  cause  which  they  represented 


Io6  THE     COMING    CHINA 

was  all  the  more  certain  of  ultimate  success,  and  that, 
although  they  might  be  slaughtered,  multitudes  of  others 
would  come  to  take  their  place.  Again,  after  the  appar- 
ent overthrow  of  Russia's  land  and  naval  forces  in  1904- 
1905  by  Japan,  there  was  even  greater  impetus  given  to 
the  forward  movement  in  Chinese  miHtary  matters.  In 
the  autumn  of  1905  a  great  review  of  troops,  drilled, 
armed,  and  commissioned  in  Western  style,  was  held  in 
the  province  of  Chihli.  This  was  the  army  of  Viceroy 
Yuan  Shih-kai,  and  it  was  considered  worthy  to  be 
inspected  and  the  manoeuvres  watched  interestedly  by 
foreign  military  attaches  of  the  legations  in  Peking, 
by  others  from  Tokyo  and  elsewhere,  and  by  newspaper 
correspondents  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  testi- 
mony which  all  these  foreigners  bore  to  general  effective- 
ness speaks  well  for  the  revolutionary  change  that  has 
taken  place  in  China's  military  departments.  A  year 
after  that,  similar  manoeuvres  took  place  in  the  northern 
part  of  Honan  province,  just  to  the  south  of  Chihli, 
in  which  Peking  is,  and  the  effect  upon  foreign  observers 
was  equally  good.  It  is  proposed  to  have  such  exhibi- 
tions annually,  and  to  recruit  a  national  army  of  half  a 
million  men.  The  progress  which  all  this  indicates  is 
not  so  satisfactory  to  some  of  the  sincere  peace-lovers, 
yet  it  is  one  of  the  unmistakable  signs  of  transformation. 
Railways,  as  an  indication  of  material  progress,  appeal 
more  forcibly  to  all  than  does  military  display;  and  when 
we  think  of  what  a  map  of  China  to-day  would  show  of 
lines  stretching  up  and  down  the  eastern  and  northern 
parts  of  the  empire,  as  contrasted  with  another  drawn 
twenty  years  ago,  the  advance  is  remarkable.     Statistics 


A     TRANSi*ORMED     CHINA  I07 

are  not  readily  accessible  to  bring  up  a  table  of  the 
Chinese  railways  to  date;  but  a  little  may  be  said  that 
is  interesting: 

The  first  railway  built  on  Chinese  soil  was  the  short 
line,  only  eleven  miles  in  length,  to  connect  Shanghai, 
which  is  on  the  west  bank  of  a  small  river,  the  Woosung, 
with  the  small  port,  Woosung  Anchorage,  on  the  Yang- 
tze River.  The  trial  trip  was  made  on  March  16,  1876; 
but  the  railway  was  strenuously  opposed  by  the  natives 
because  of  its  pernicious  influence  upon  Fung-Shui,  liter- 
ally "wind  and  water,"  the  geomancy  which  determines 
everything  that  the  old,  true  Chinese  did,  especially 
the  proper  location  of  graves,  a  number  of  which  were 
disturbed  by  the  new  "fire- wagon  road"  of  the  then 
hated  foreigners.  The  opposition  was  overcome,  in  a 
measure,  and  the  line  publicly  opened  on  June  30,  1876. 
It  was  bought  up  by  Chinese  for  the  express  purpose  of 
putting  a  stop  to  its  malign  influences,  on  October  31, 
1877;  but  resumed  operations  in  December  of  that  same 
year.  In  the  following  year  the  whole  plant  was  removed 
to  Formosa;  but  before  long  a  new  line  was  built  over 
the  same  ground,  and  speedily  became  popular  with  the 
Chinese,  who  are  now  about  the  only  passengers  it 
carries.  These  details  are  given  to  make  the  contrast 
with  what  took  place  in  the  near  future,  and  is  of  every- 
day occurrence  now,  all  the  more  conspicuous.  When 
the  first  short-line  railway  was  constructed  as  an  outlet 
for  the  K'ai-p'ing  coal  mines,  it  passed  through  a  large 
native  cemetery;  the  graves  were  removed  to  make 
way  for  it,  just  as  they  would  have  been  in  Europe  or 
America,   and   nothing  was   said   in   opposition   about 


Io8  THE     COMING    CHINA 

Fung-Shui.  Geomantic  superstitions,  so  far  as  concerns 
railways,  are  now  quite  inert.  The  next  line  was  built 
to  connect  the  city  of  Tientsin  with  the  port  of  Taku, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  River.  A  trunk  line  from 
Peking  to  Hankow  was  projected  in  1889,  but  progress 
was  postponed  because  of  opposition  in  December  of 
that  year.  For  some  time  thereafter  railway  construc- 
tion in  China  languished;  but  when  once  more  it  was 
resumed  it  went  forward  rapidly,  and  there  are  now  over 
three  thousand  miles  of  railway  in  operation.  These 
figures  include  some  lines  that  are  not  under  Chinese 
control,  as  the  German  line  from  Ts'ing  Tao  (Kjaochao) 
to  Chi-nan  fu,  in  Shantung  province;  the  Manchurian 
line  from  Dalny  (Port  Arthur)  to  Harbin;  the  French 
lines  in  Yunnan  province,  only  partly  in  Chinese  territory. 
Since  the  Chinese  have  asserted  themselves  very 
emphatically  as  to  the  right  of  construction,  maintenance, 
etc.,  there  has  arisen  a  somewhat  serious  difficulty  about 
raising  the  necessary  capital  to  complete  existing  lines 
and  to  begin  the  many  others  which  have  been  con- 
templated. It  is  almost  impossible  to  get  native  engi- 
neers who  are  competent  to  lay  out  and  build  railways, 
although  foreigners  agree  in  saying  that  some  of  the  work 
done  by  such  men  is  entirely  satisfactory.  The  lack  of 
confidence  on  the  part  of  American  and  European  capi- 
talists in  the  ability  of  the  Chinese  to  operate  their  lines 
economically  and  honestly,  is  another  bar  to  develop- 
ment. But  the  development  must  come,  and  it  is  the 
intention  of  the  people  to  buy  all  rights  now  held  by 
foreigners;  the  fact  that  native  capital  has  been  forth- 
coming  when    confidence    was    assured,    justifies    the 


A     TRANSFORMED     CHINA  I09 

expectation  that  railway  development  in  China  will 
progress  rapidly. 

In  the  matter  of  a  general  postal  system,  although 
this  is  something  which,  in  China,  is  not  much  more  than 
ten  years  old,  yet  the  development  has  been  remarkable. 
There  are  now  upwards  of  four  thousand  "Post  and 
Telegraph  Offices"  fully  equipped  in  the  matter  of 
registration,  money-order  business,  and  all  else,  and  it 
is  estimated  that  the  expansion  is  progressing  at  the  rate 
of  almost  one  a  day. 

The  industrial  development  is  another  feature  of  mod- 
em China  which  has  important  bearings.  Many  differ- 
ent arts  and  crafts  are  now  taught  which  were  unknown 
only  a  few  years  ago,  and  the  wages  given  to  opera- 
tors have  a  marked  effect  in  diminishing  the  number  of 
beggars.  Enterprises  which  enable  the  hitherto  helpless, 
the  lame,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  to  support  themselves, 
have  appeared  in  various  provinces,  especially  in  the 
lower  end  of  the  great  Yang-tze  Valley.  These  are  a 
veritable  revelation  to  the  ordinary  Chinese,  who  had 
before  looked  upon  these  unfortunates  as  beyond  hope. 
As  for  instruction  given  to  prisoners  in  common  jails, 
this  is  a  reform  that  is  now  so  well-rooted  as  to  be 
permanent,  and  the  fact  marks  a  progress  which  is 
astonishing  to  the  Chinese  themselves  and  most  gratify- 
ing to  their  foreign  friends. 

The  most  important  advance  of  all,  the  one  thing 
which  marks  a  new  China,  education  in  ways  that  con- 
form admirably  to  the  highest  standards  of  Europe  and 
America,  that  is  a  subject  of  such  great  importance  that 
it  must  be  discussed  in  a  chapter  by  itself. 


no  THE     COMING     CHINA 

But  from  all  that  has  been  said,  it  must  be  manifest, 
even  to  the  most  casual  reader,  that  the  possibilities  in 
a  China  imbued  with  Western  ideas  of  progress  and 
internal  improvement  are  enormous.  Such  a  vast  em- 
pire, with  a  population  so  great  and  composed  of  such 
varieties  of  peoples  differing  in  tastes  and  needs  accord- 
ing to  locality  and  inherited  taste;  a  country  so  rich  in 
raw  material,  and  so  abundantly  supplied  with  intelli- 
gent labour,  must  ere  long  take  a  prominent  place  in  the 
world.  Are  we  of  the  West  justified  in  looking  with 
apprehension  upon  this  possible  advance?  Not  so. 
The  development,  if  intelligently  made  along  our  own 
methods,  must  of  necessity  conform  to  our  standards. 
If  China  is  to  be  like  America  in  certain  ways,  how  can 
she  avoid  approximating  us  in  all?  If  there  are  to  be 
railways,  inland  navigation,  post-offices,  factories,  and 
all  the  concomitants  of  advanced  life,  the  blessings  must 
be  paid  for;  the  standards  of  living  must  be  raised,  so 
that  the  dreaded  competition  either  disappears  entirely 
or  fades  away  into  a  dim  future,  when  China  has  raised 
herself  at  home  quite  up  to  our  standard.  To  oppose 
China's  progress  because  of  apprehended  danger  to  our 
industries  and  our  own  people  who  depend  upon  them 
for  living  and  luxuries,  seems  to  be  needless  borrowing  of 
trouble. 


CHAPTER  V 

CHINA'S    ATTITUDE   IN    THE  PAST   TOWARDS   THE 
"FOREIGN   DEVILS" 

PRECISELY  when  the  eighteen  provinces  of  true 
China  coalesced  into  a  unit  of  government  is 
not  of  special  importance  here.  During  the  reign  of 
the  Chou  Dynasty,  1122  to  255  B.C.,  there  was  a  tribu- 
tary state,  Ts'in,  on  the  northwest  frontier  of  what  was 
at  that  time  recognized  as  the  Imperial  possessions  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  A  chief  of  that  state,  Chao 
Hsiang  Wang,  overstepped  the  prerogatives  of  a  subordi- 
nate and  deposed  the  last  Emperor  of  the  Chou  Dynasty, 
Tung  Chou  Chiin.  For  himself  Chao  Hsiang  Wang  did 
not  assume  the  title  of  Emperor,  although  he  is  given  in 
all  Chinese  records  as  the  first  one  of  the  Ch'in,  or  Ts'in 
Dynasty.  It  was  his  son,  Hsiao  Wen  Wang  (Prince 
Cheng)  —  now  given  as  the  second  ruler  in  the  dynasty, 
of  whom  we  have  already  written  at  some  length  —  who 
took  to  himself  the  arrogant  title  of  Chi  Hwangti  {The 
First  Emperor)  and  set  himself  to  the  task  of  consoli- 
dating the  whole  empire.  This  he  divided  into  thirty-six 
provinces,  over  which  he  placed  governors,  and  himself 
made  ''progresses"  through  the  whole  country  to  see 
that  no  injustice  was  done.  These  tours  were  made 
with  the  greatest  possible  display;  the  Emperor  was 
attended  by  Court  officials  of  the  highest  rank  and  pro- 


112  THE     COMING    CHINA 

tected  by  a  large  body  of  troops.  He  was  very  astute 
in  calling  officials  and  soldiers  from  all  parts  of  his  realm, 
because  in  doing  this  he  made  the  people  of  the  differ- 
ent provinces  known  to  each  other,  and  this  acquaint- 
ance contributed  much  to  strengthen  his  own  hand. 

The  Huns,  along  the  northern  border  of  the  then 
China,  were  exceedingly  troublesome,  but  Chuang  suc- 
ceeded in  stopping  their  raids  and  drove  these  "Outer 
Barbarians,"  or  "Foreign  Devils,"  into  the  wilds  of 
Mongolia.  It  was  he  who  conceived  the  idea  of  extend- 
ing the  numerous  short  sections  of  wall  that  had  been 
built  by  some  of  the  northern  feudal  states  as  barriers 
against  the  unwelcomed  intruders,  and  under  him  was 
begun  "The  Great  Wall  of  China,"  Wan-li-Chang 
Ching  {i.e.  "Myriad-mile  Wall"),  which  was  not  com- 
pleted until  the  year  204  B.C.,  or  seven  years  after  Chu- 
ang's  death.  It  extends  from  the  sea  at  Shanhaikwan, 
on  the  Gulf  of  Pechele,  to  Kiayii  Pass  (near  the  city, 
Suh-chau,  in  Kansuh  province),  a  distance  of  22^  de- 
gree of  latitude,  or  1255  miles  in  a  straight  line, 
but  fully  1500  miles  with  all  the  doublings  and  twist- 
ing. "It  would  stretch  from  Philadelphia  to  Topeka,  or 
from  Portugal  to  Naples,  in  nearly  the  same  latitude."* 
Some  idea  of  the  feelings  of  the  Chinese  at  that  time 
towards  "Foreign  Devils"  may  be  gathered  from  this 
stupendous  undertaking  to  keep  them  out  twenty-two 
centuries  ago.  Well  known  to  everybody  as  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world,  this  wall  is  likely  to  disappear 
before  the  encroachments  of  modern  civilization  and 
because  it  can  no  longer  serve  its  purpose.  Hence,  if 
♦"The  Middle  Kingdom." 


CHINA     S     ATTITUDE     IN     THE     PAST       II3 

it  is  desired  to  see  this  remarkable  evidence  of  ability 
of  a  particular  kind  in  people  who  lived  so  long  ago, 
it  is  well  to  do  so  before  it  is  levelled  to  make  use  of  the 
material,  to  give  place  for  that  which  is  useful,  to  make 
way  for  progress. 

The  thirty-six  provinces  of  Emperor  Hsiao  Wen  Wang 
were  reduced  in  number,  but  not  in  area,  to  eighteen, 
which  included,  with  some  insignificant  additions,  the 
country  so  easily  conquered  by  the  Manchus  in  1664. 
The  ruUng  dynasty  had  much  extended  the  Hmits  of 
the  empire  until  it  greatly  exceeded  the  territory  ruled 
by  the  Mings,  the  last  true  Chinese  dynasty,  and 
approximated  in  area  even  to  the  vast  dominions  ruled 
by  the  Mongol,  Kublai  Khan,  in  1290  a.d.  Williams 
C'The  Middle  Kingdom")  says  that  in  1840  the  borders 
of  the  "Chinese  Empire  were  well  defined,  reaching  from 
the  island  of  Saghahen  on  the  northeast  to  Hainan  Island 
on  the  south,  and  westward  to  Belur-tag,  enclosing,  it 
was  estimated,  5,300,000  square  miles."  This  estimate, 
of  course,  includes  Korea  and  the  whole  of  Manchuria 
as  far  as  the  Amur  River  and  the  Usuri  River;  and  the 
Mongolian  territory  as  well  as  Ili  (composing  Sungaria, 
and  Eastern  Turkestan),  Kokonor,  and  Tibet.  Since 
that  time,  however,  a  steady  process  of  disintegration 
has  been  going  on  —  Great  Britain  has  appropriated 
Hongkong  and  its  dependencies  as  well  as  Weihaiwei; 
Russia  took  huge  slices  off  the  northern  frontier;  Japan 
has  acquired  the  Loochoo  Islands,  Formosa,  the  Pesca- 
dores, Korea,  Liaotung,  and  assumes  possessory  rights 
in  Southern  Manchuria,  which  Russia  caps  by  exerting 
influence  in  the  northern  part  of  that  territory;  Ger- 


114  THE    COMING    CHINA 

many  has  taken  Tsintau,  (Kiaochou),  and  that  really 
means  a  good  deal  more;  France  has  encroached  in  the 
south;  Portugal  has  a  little;  until  to-day  the  five  million 
square  miles  must  be  largely  reduced.  It  is  scarcely 
to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Chinese  look  upon  all  these 
people  of  Europe  and  upon  their  one-time  pupils,  the 
Japanese,  as  being  barbarous  in  their  actions  and  imdvi- 
lized  in  their  demands. 

Just  who  the  Chinese  are  and  where  they  came  from 
is  one  of  the  interesting  problems  that  will  always  enter- 
tain ethnologists.  That  the  people  whom  we  know  as 
Chinese — Li  Min,  "Black-haired  Race,"  is  a  common 
appellation  for  themselves' — are  not  in  any  sense  aborig- 
ines, or  autochthonous,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  so  many  tribes  in  the  mountainous  regions  of 
the  southwest,  Yunnan,  Kwangsi,  and  Kweichaio  prov- 
inces, who  are  called  Miaotsz,  "children  of  the  soil." 
They  are  certainly  not  of  the  same  race  as  the  Chinese, 
and  some  of  them  have  maintained  their  independence 
remarkably,  those  who  have  actually  submitted  to 
Chinese  rule  are  called  Shuh  Miaotsz,  "subdued"; 
those  who  declare  they  have  not  submitted,  are  styled 
Sang  Miaotsz,  "wild."  These  southwestern  non-Chi- 
nese tribes  (for  we  hesitate  to  use  the  term  "aboriginal" 
even  for  them)  show  a  strong  affinity  with  the  hill 
tribes  of  upper  Burma.  In  other  places,  here  and  there 
over  the  empire,  are  other  small  groups  of  people  who 
display  characteristics  differentiating  them  from  the 
Chinese,  and  probably  these,  too,  were  in  possession 
before  the  Chinese  came.  The  Mongols  and  Manchus 
are  not  far  removed  from  the  Chinese  in  ethnic  afiinity; 


china's   attitude   in  the   past    115 

their  habits  of  life  have  developed  characteristics 
somewhat  different,  although  it  is  probably  correct 
to  say  that  the  Chinese  lost  their  nomadic  tendencies 
long  before  the  Manchus  did,  and  that  these  latter 
gave  up  their  wanderings  before  the  Mongols.  But  in 
some  physical  characteristics  there  are  differences  in 
all  three,  Chinese,  Manchu,  Mongol. 

These  Chinese  came  from  the  west  of  Asia,  along 
the  valley  of  the  Yellow  River,  and  the  territory  they 
occupied  was  but  a  fraction  of  what  is  now  China  proper; 
their  coming  was  resented,  of  course,  for  there  is  no 
possible  reason  to  suppose  that  history  in  Central  Asia, 
eight  thousand  or  even  ten  thousand  years  ago,  did  not 
pursue  the  same  course  that  it  has  always  followed; 
but  the  intruders  drove  back  those  whom  they  encoun- 
tered and,  with  the  exceptions  which  have  been  noted, 
assimilated  them.  One  marked  trait  of  this  Chinese 
people  is  to  be  noted  here,  that  of  assimilation.  When 
they  conquered  they  absorbed  those  whom  they  sub- 
dued; but  when  they  were  in  their  turn  conquered;  as 
by  the  Mongols  and  afterwards  by  the  Manchus,  it 
was  the  conquerors  who,  socially,  were  conquered;  for 
both  the  Mongols  and  Manchus  adopted  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Chinese,  save  in  unimportant  details.  After 
that  first  occupation  of  territory  in  the  porthwest,  the 
expansion  was  as  normal  as  that  of  the  EngUsh  in  Amer- 
ica; when  the  native's  maps  of  the  Chinese  Empire  at 
the  different  stages  of  its  slow  growth  are  examined,  its 
historic  evolution  during  the  last  three  thousand  years 
becomes,  by  a  similar  representation,  as  clear  as  that 
of  the  United  States  since  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 


Il6  THE    COMING    CHINA 

tution.  The  boundaries  of  the  empire  were  pushed  on- 
ward and  outward  until  at  certain  periods  it  has  been 
coextensive  with  the  greater  part  of  the  continent  of 
Asia,  stretching  from  India  and  Persia,  on  the  south  and 
west,  northward  to  the  Siberian  frontier,  and  eastward 
to  the  sea,  and  including  many  islands  as  integral  parts 
or  controlling  others  and  exacting  tribute.  Ch'ien  Lung 
died  in  1799;  he  had  abdicated  three  years  before  be- 
cause of  superstitious  respect  for  the  memory  of  his 
grandfather  K'ang  Hsi,  who  had  reigned  for  sixty  years 
(from  1661-1662  to  i722-i723),and  the  grandson  thought 
it  would  be  disrespectful  to  hold  the  throne  longer  than 
his  revered  ancestor.  At  that  time  "from  the  steppes 
of  Mongolia  on  the  north  to  Cochin  China  on  the  south, 
from  Formosa  on  the  east  to  Nepaul  on  the  west,  the 
Chinese  armies  had  everywhere  been  victorious.  It  was 
not  a  happy  omen  that  this  mihtary  glory  coincided 
with  the  period  during  which  the  presence  of  the  untam- 
able European  in  China  began  to  be  most  irksome."  * 
The  earhest  rulers  were  undoubtedly  patriarchs, 
who  developed  into  miUtary  chiefs  of  no  mean  prowess 
because  of  their  struggle  with  their  neighbours.  Success 
in  these  conflicts  naturally  brought  with  it  a  feeling  of 
superiority  over  their  neighbours,  and  we  begin  to  see 
how  there  followed  a  feeling  very  much  Uke  contempt 
for  the  absolute  inferiority  by  which  they  were  sur- 
rounded. Then,  too,  the  early  attainments  in  writing 
must  have  added  to  the  sense  of  superiority,  for  his- 
tory shows  us  that  the  Chinese  had  felt  themselves 
to   be   surrounded    by   that    conspicuous    inferiority. 

*  Smith,  op.  cit. 


china's  attitude   in  the   past     117 

They  thus  had  been  flattered  in  the  most  dangerous 
way,  because  it  was  entirely  plausible,  and  from  the 
very  first  they  used  the  ideograph,  which  means  "bar- 
barian," when  writing  of  all  the  people  who  surrounded 
them;  even  the  inhabitants  of  India,  Persia,  and  other 
states  (whom  we  should  hesitate  to  call  "barbarians") 
were  thus  stigmatized,  and  we  may  properly  assume 
that  those  people  were  spoken  of  in  the  same  contemptu- 
ous way. 

It  is  quite  true  that  the  Chinese  in  times  past  evinced 
considerable  ability  as  warriors;  this  must  be  true  or 
else  they  could  not  have  done  what  they  did.  But  it 
was  not  long  until  the  necessity  for  providing  the  means 
of  living  transformed  the  greater  part  of  them  into 
peaceful  agriculturists,  and,  along  the  coast,  into  hardy 
fishermen  who  were  brave  enough  in  facing  the  dangers 
of  the  sea,  yet  loath  to  turn  towards  feats  of  war.  Now 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  incursion  of  the  Mon- 
gols was  by  no  means  imresisted  by  the  Chinese.  The 
place  in  which  these  Mongols  had  their  beginning  is 
the  narrow  strip  of  country  lying  between  the  Onon  and 
Keruilun  Rivers,  tributaries  or  upper  courses  of  the  Amur. 
Immediately  upon  leaving  their  own  home,  in  the  ninth 
century,  these  people  attracted  attention  by  their  cour- 
age and  strength,  gaining  then,  or  perhaps  in  some  of 
their  earlier  raids  against  their  neighbours,  the  title  of 
Mongol,  or  "the  brave."  They  had  been  included  in 
the  list  of  "barbarians"  by  the  Chinese,  and  for  a  long 
time  were  among  the  tribute-paying  clans  beyond  the 
northern  confines  of  the  empire.  It  is  possible  that, 
at   some   remote   time,   the   Mongols   were   merely  a 


Il8  THE     COMING    CHINA 

section  of  the  Hiongnoii,  or  Huns,  and  Genghis  Khan 
claimed  descent  from  that  celebrated  people.  It  is 
not  at  all  impossible,  therefore,  that  Attila  and  Genghis, 
the  two  great  conquerors  specially  known  as  the 
"Scourges  of  God,"  came  of  the  same  stock,  and  rep- 
resented one  of  those  races  which  had  been  cast  out 
by  the  civilization  and  millions  of  China.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  French  writers  with  whom  Boulger,  from 
whose  "History  of  China"  the  data  for  this  paragraph 
has  been  taken,  is  inclined  to  agree.  The  Mongol 
legend  was  that  this  Royal  house  came  through  Tibet 
from  Hindustan.*  "The  Mongols  owed  their  mili- 
tary success  to  their  admirable  discipHne,  and  to  their 
close  study  of  the  art  of  war.  Their  miHtary  suprem- 
acy arose  from  their  superiority  in  all  essentials  as  a 
fighting  power  to  their  neighbours.  Much  of  their  knowl- 
edge was  borrowed  from  China,  where  the  art  of  dis- 
ciplining a  large  army  and  manoeuvring  it  in  the  field 
had  been  brought  to  a  high  state  of  perfection  many 
centuries  before  the  time  of  Genghis.  But  the  Mon- 
gols carried  the  teaching  of  the  past  to  a  further  point 
than  any  of  the  former  or  contemporary  Chinese  com- 
manders, indeed  than  any  in  the  whole  world  would 
have  done;  and  the  revolution  which  they  effected  in 
tactics  was  not  less  remarkable,  and  did  not  leave  a 
smaller  impression  upon  the  age,  than  the  improvement 
made  in  military  science  by  Frederick  the  Great  and 
Napoleon  did  in  their  day.  The  Mongols  played  in  a 
large  way  in  Asia  the  part  which  the  Normans  on  a 
smaller  scale  played  in  Europe.  Although  the  land- 
*  Howorth's  "History  of  the  Mongols." 


china's  attitude  in  the  past    119 

marks  of  their  triumph  have  now  ahnost  wholly  van- 
ished, they  were  for  two  centuries  the  dominant  caste 
in  most  of  the  states  of  Asia."     (Boulger.) 

Had  not  the  attractions  of  the  palace  in  its  worst 
phases  of  sensuousness,  gluttony,  and  debauchery 
proved  stronger  for  the  Mongol  emperors  than  did  their 
appreciation  of  their  Imperial  responsibilities,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  their  reign  over  the  Chinese  Empire 
might  have  continued;  for  with  all  their  overweening 
fondness  for  overeating  and  furious  drinking,  they  pre- 
served, almost  to  the  last,  their  ability  as  leaders  of  men 
and  military  commanders.  The  prowess  of  the  Chi- 
nese reasserted  itself  after  eighty-nine  years  of  this 
Mongol  rule,  when,  disgusted  with  the  conduct  of  those 
"barbarians,"  their  outrageous  dividing  of  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  Chinese  among  themselves  and  their 
clan  adherents,  with  their  flooding  of  the  country  with 
paper  money,  which  at  last  became  worthless,  they 
gathered  around  the  standard  of  one  Chu  Yuen-chang, 
a  plebeian  by  birth  and  at  one  time  a  common  priest, 
and  expelled  the  Mongols.  The  Ming,  the  last  one  — • 
as  yet  —  of  the  native  dynasties,  had  but  a  short  rule, 
and  was  easily  displaced  by  the  Manchus,  they  who 
established  the  present  Tsing,  or  "Pure  Dynasty." 
This  account  is  interesting  as  showing  that  even 
towards  their  conquerors,  notwithstanding  that  those 
conquerors  ruled  them,  the  Chinese  have  held  them- 
selves to  be  superior. 

Leading  Chinese,  as  well  as  Japanese,  have  scouted  the 
idea  of  the  "Yellow  Peril,"  and  the  latter  smile  super- 
ciliously at  the  suggestion  that  China  can  ever  be  a 


120  THE     COMING     CHINA 

nation  great  in  war.  While  it  is  true  that  her  present 
military  power  may  be  safely  ignored,  it  is  not  so  much 
because  of  inability  to  fight,  if  need  be,  as  it  is  because 
of  a  reassuring  ambition  on  the  part  of  her  wisest  leaders 
to  be  great  in  peaceful  ways.  Those  who  profess  to  see 
in  the  Chinese  warlike  possibilities,  which  must  not  be 
overlooked,  contend  that  China's  suzerainty  over  such 
warlike  people  as  the  Tibetans  and  the  fierce  Ghoor- 
khas  came  by  right  of  conquest,  and  claim  that  her 
empire  extends  as  far  as  Turkestan  by  the  same  right. 
If  the  opposing  contention  is  correct,  that  it  was  not  the 
Chinese  themselves  who  effected  these  conquests,  but 
the  Manchus,  who,  until  they  were  in  a  measure  ab- 
sorbed by  the  Chinese,  spoke  a  different  language  and 
wrote  a  different  character,  the  fact  still  remains  that 
the  Chinese  assumed  an  attitude  of  superiority  over 
these  people  who  were  classed  as  "outer  barbarians." 
It  was  in  1792  only  that  the  Chinese,  under  one  of  their 
own  generals,  defeated  the  Ghoorkhas,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  in  Gordon's  " Ever- victorious  Army" 
and  among  the  "Boxers"  of  1900  there  were  a  goodly 
number  of  true  Chinese.  Whether  there  is  to  be  or 
is  not  to  be  a  Chinese  army  organized,  armed,  and 
drilled  in  the  best  way  that  America  or  Europe  can 
teach,  it  is  surely  one  which,  because  of  the  instincts 
of  the  people,  will  make  for  the  peace  of  the  Far  East, 
assuming  that  the  argument  of  the  mihtarists,  "the 
best  way  of  maintaining  peace  is  always  to  be  pre- 
pared for  war,"  is  to  be  tolerated. 

Thus,  then,  we  see  that  from  a  time  in  the  past  so 
remote  that  we  cannot  establish  it  definitely,  because 


121 


china's   attitude   in   the   past 

it  coincides  with  the  very  beginning  of  the   Chinese 
nation,  the  people  of  that  land  were  so  convinced  of 
their  superiority  as  to  look  upon  all  who  were  not  of 
them'selves   as  ''outer  barbarians."     When  the  Euro- 
peans appeared  among  them  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
we  have  already  learned  enough  of  their  deportment  to 
make  us  lenient  when  passing  judgment  on  the  Chinese 
for  giving  emphasis  to  that  title  by  calhng  the  stran- 
gers "Foreign  Devils";  and  such  we  were,  in  their  esti- 
mation, until  they  were  first  compelled  by  force  to  alter 
their  contemptuous  designation,   and  afterwards  con- 
vinced by  our  consideration  for  them  that  we  were  not 
to  be  considered  so  totally  different  from  themselves  as 
to  justify  that  contempt.     But  it  might  as  well  be  ad- 
mitted that  in  the  interior  of  China,  where  there  are 
yet  many  places  and  probably  millions  of  people  who 
know  nothing  of  the  Western  people  through  personal 
mtercourse,  we  are  still  "Foreign  Devils"  to  the  natives; 
and,  too,  at  the  open  ports  when,  too  often,  the  examples 
of  "Western  civiUzation"  are  the  kind  that  we  ourselves 
condemn,  this  is  the  term  by  wliich  we  are  designated 
It  was  quite  within  the  memory  of  hving  men  that  the 
degradmg  term  of  "tribute  bearers"  was  used  in  the 
official  despatches  and  memorials  purposed  to  impart 
to  "The  Son  of  Heaven"  information  concerning  the 
movements  of  the  Europeans;  and  it  was  only  in  1858 
that  the  obloquious  "I"  (barbarian)  was  discontinued 
m  all  official  documents. 

We  have  already  considered  something  of  the  reason 
which  led  the  Chinese  to  reahze  that  these  people  from 
Europe  were  not  precisely  the  same  as  the  inferior  tribes 


122  THE    COMING    CHINA 

by  whom  they  had  hitherto  been  surrounded,  and  with 
whom  they  had,  always  with  more  or  less  reluctance, 
been  compelled  to  have  intercourse;  we  must  now  give 
this  subject  some  further  consideration,  and  somewhat 
in  detail,  in  order  that  we  may  clearly  understand  the 
troubled  course  along  which  events  flowed  until  the 
peaceful  and  satisfactory  conditions  of  the  present  time 
were  accomplished.  But  first,  let  us  go  back  to  a  remote 
past  and  take  note  of  the  fact  that  ofiicial  history  in 
China  is  accomplished  and  written  in  a  somewhat  pecu- 
har  way;  it  is,  primarily,  the  record  of  the  Court  and  has 
to  deal  almost  solely  with  the  doings  of  the  Emperor. 
It  was  not  considered  proper,  indeed,  by  some  it  is 
declared  to  have  been  forbidden,  for  the  Court  histori- 
ographers to  divulge  anything  that  they  had  just  put 
into  the  official  annals;  when  a  dynasty  passed,  and  a 
new  Une  of  rulers  took  possession  of  the  throne,  then 
the  record  of  the  last  dynasty  was  published.  It  is 
claimed  that  this  plan  was  adopted  to  protect  the  his- 
toriographer from  punishment,  if  the  monarch,  or  any 
of  his  favourites,  or  the  important  statesmen  were 
offended  at  the  criticism  upon  their  acts  recorded  by 
the  official  scribes.  This  was  undoubtedly  a  wise  plan, 
and  because  it  was  pursued  fearlessly,  we  have  records 
of  ancient  China  which  have  commanded  the  respect 
of  the  very  best  Sinologues.  If  there  is  just  ground  for 
complaint  that  this  ancient  native  history  of  China  is 
wofully  deficient  in  matters  that  are  far  more  interest- 
ing to  us  now  than  the  daily,  almost  hourly,  record  of 
the  acts  and  words  of  a  monarch,  for  we  should  prefer 
to  be  told  what  the  people  did,  we  must  remember  that 


china's   attitude   in   the   past     123 

somewhat  the  same  objection  may  be  raised  to  history 
in  Europe  of  not  many  centuries  ago.  Still,  when,  in 
times  two  thousand  years  past,  there  came  from  the 
West  caravans  of  merchants  from  Persia,  let  us  say, 
there  was  not  infrequently  sufficient  importance  attached 
to  the  event  to  entitle  it  to  be  brought  to  the  sov- 
ereign's notice  and  to  make  record  of  what  His  Majesty 
said  about  it.  In  these  earliest  records,  when  we  do 
find  anything  said  of  the  coming  of  such  strangers, 
they  are  usually  called  "tribute  bearers,"  not  always  or 
often  "barbarians." 

We  would  note  here  a  mild  protest  against  the  too 
commonly  accepted  idea  that  our  knowledge  of  China 
practically  begins  with  Marco  Polo's  account  (as 
recorded  by  outside  observers  and  not  drawn  from 
native  records)  of  his  visit  to  the  Court  of  Kublai  Khan 
in  the  thirteenth  century.  There  are  other  accounts 
of  visits  to  that  country  which  are  older;  and  of  one  of 
them,  that  by  the  priest  Rubruquis  telling  of  his  jour- 
ney in  the  same  thirteenth  century,  but  a  Httle  earlier 
than  Polo,  Colonel  Yule,  admitted  to  be  our  greatest 
authority,  says:  "It  has  never  had  justice  done  it  for  it 
has  few  superiors  in  the  whole  library  of  travel."  Now, 
Marco  Polo  does  not  write  in  such  a  way  as  to  impress 
us  with  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  Court  officials  and 
people  assumed  such  an  offensive  superiority  over  all 
strangers  as  to  lump  them  into  one  group  of  outlandish 
barbarians.  It  is  true  that  the  Chinese  Empire  was 
then  under  the  dominion  of  the  Mongols,  but  their  sway 
was  so  complete  that  the  Emperor  could  appoint  this 
Italian  stranger  a  prefect,  or  governor  of  an  important 


124  THE     COMING     CHINA 

city,  and  he  was,  seemingly,  respected  and  obeyed  as 
such. 

The  whole  record  of  the  intercourse  between  Chinese 
and  foreigners  during  the  thirty  years  from  1834  to  1861, 
when  we  may  say  that  China  had  at  last  learnt  her 
lesson  and  gave  up  the  struggle  in  opposition  to  the 
unwelcomed  intruders,  is  not  at  all  flattering  to  the 
"civilized"  Europeans  in  contrast  with  the  "heathen" 
Chinese.  We  have  already  given  sufficient  attention 
to  the  behaviour  of  the  Portuguese,  Spanish,  and  Dutch, 
and  will  merely  add  here  that  the  reputation  these  had 
established  must  have  operated  greatly \^o  the  preju- 
dice of  the  later  comers,  the  British,  and  still  later  the 
French,  when  the  latter  sought  intercourse  for  other 
purposes  than  Christian  propaganda.  It  was  solely 
with  a  view  of  teaching  the  Christian  religion  that  the 
French  entered  China  in  1288;  and  they  are  credited 
with  being  the  first  of  the  modern  Europeans  to  have 
arrived.  They  did  not  remain  long  as  missionaries, 
but  the  influence  they  exerted  was,  on  the  whole,  for 
good,  although  in  material  rather  than  spiritual  ways. 

Before  the  intercourse  between  foreigners  and  Chinese 
assumed  something  of  permanency  and  had  attained 
to  considerable  proportions  in  the  matter  of  trade,  there 
were  numerous  petty  quarrels  due  to  the  ignorance  of 
each  party  of  the  language  and  customs  of  the  other; 
besides  there  were  many  squabbles  brought  about  by 
the  turbulent  conduct  of  sailors.  "The  French  and 
EngHsh  seamen  at  Whampoa,  in  1754,  carried  their 
national  hatred  to  such  a  degree  that  they  could  not 
pursue  their  trade  without  quarrelling;  and  a  Frenchman 


CHINA     S     ATTITUDE     IN     THE     PAST       I25 

having  killed  an  English  sailor,  the  Chinese  stopped  the 
trade  of  the  former  nation  until  the  person  was  given 
up,  though  he  was  subsequently  Hberated.  The  Chinese 
allotted  two  different  islands  in  the  river  at  Whampoa 
for  the  recreation  of  the  seamen  of  each  nation,  in  order 
that  such  troubles  might  be  avoided  in  future.  A  sim- 
ilar case  occurred  at  Canton  in  1780,  when  a  French- 
man killed  a  Portuguese  sailor  at  night  in  one  of  the 
merchants'  houses  and  fled  to  the  consul's  for  refuge." 
(There  were,  it  must  be  noted,  at  that  time  no  such  thing 
as  properly  appointed  foreign  consuls  who  received 
exequatur  from  the  Chinese  Government  authorizing 
them  to  discharge  their  official  duties;  so  that  it  was 
manifestly  impossible  for  a  French  consul  to  grant  extra- 
territorial protection  to  this  criminal.)  "The  Chinese 
demanded  the  criminal,  and  after  some  days  he  was 
given  up  to  them  and  publicly  strangled;  this  pimish- 
ment  he  no  doubt  merited,  although  it  was  the  first 
case  in  which  they  had  interfered  where  the  matter  was 
altogether  among  foreigners.  In  1784  a  native  was 
killed  by  a  ball  left  in  a  gun  when  firing  a  salute,  and  the 
Chinese,  on  the  principle  of  requiring  life  for  fife, 
demanded  the  man  who  had  fired  the  gun.  Kjiowing 
that  the  English  were  not  likely  to  give  him  up,  the 
police  seized  Mr.  Smith,  the  supercargo  of  the  vessel, 
and  carried  him  a  prisoner  into  the  city  (Canton). 
On  the  seizure  of  this  gentleman  the  ship's  boats  were 
ordered  up  from  Whampoa  with  armed  crews  to  defend 
the  factories.  A  messenger  from  the  Chinese,  hov/ever, 
declared  that  their  purpose  in  seizing  Smith  was  simply 
to   examine   him   on   the   affair,   to   which   statement 


126  THE    COMING    CHINA 

the  captive  himself  added  a  request  that  the  gunner 
should  be  sent  up  to  the  authorities  and  submit  to  their 
questions.  Trusting  too  much  to  their  promises,  the 
man  was  allowed  to  go  alone  before  the  ofl&cials  within 
the  city  wall,  when  Mr.  Smith  was  immediately  lib- 
erated and  the  unhappy  gunner  strangled  after  some 
six  weeks'  confinement,  by  direct  orders  of  the  Emperor, 
The  man,  probably,  underwent  no  form  of  trial  intelli- 
gible to  himself,  and  his  condemnation  was  the  more 
unjust,  as  by  Section  CCXCII  of  the  Chinese  code  he 
was  allowed  to  ransom  himself  by  a  fine  of  twenty  dol- 
lars. As  a  counterpart  of  this  tragedy,  the  Chinese 
stated  (and  there  was  reason  for  beUeving  them)  that 
a  native  who  had  accidentally  killed  a  British  seaman 
about  the  same  time  was  executed  for  the  casualty."  * 
Many  other  cases  similar  to  this  occurred  from  time 
to  time,  and  always  they  involved  a  conflict  of  author- 
ity between  the  native  officials  and  the  foreigners;  the 
latter  usually  carrying  their  point  of  high-handed  dis- 
regard of  local  law  and  custom,  although,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  the  Europeans  were  within  Chinese  juris- 
dictions by  their  own  motion.  They  had  not  come  at 
the  invitation  of  the  Chinese,  who  gave  no  guarantee 
of  protection  in  any  way,  and  certainly  had  not  waived 
any  rights.  The  foreigners  voluntarily  accepted  the 
risk  which  their  presence  in  Chinese  territory  involved, 
being  willing  to  do  this  because  of  the  profits  which  the 
trade  brought  to  themselves;  they  were  absolutely  and 
unquestionably  amenable  to  Chinese  law,  and  had  the 
situation  been  transferred  to  European  soil,  with  national- 
*  Williams,  op.  cit. 


^^^^^^^^1 

Chinese  Prisoner:    Punishment  with 
THE  Caxgue 


Women  Punished  bv  being  put  in  the  Stocks 


CHINA     S     ATTITUDE     IN     THE     PAST      I27 

ity  of  the  parties  criminal  and  judicial  reversed,  there  is 
no  question  as  to  the  assertion  of  rights  of  jurisdiction, 
no  matter  what  penalty  followed.  There  has  never 
been  justice  done  to  the  Chinese  in  this  matter  of  juris- 
diction. Granted  that  the  foreigners  in  those  early 
days  at  Canton  constituted  a  community  unto  them- 
selves, subject  wholly  to  what  they  chose  to  consider 
their  duty  as  between  themselves  and  as  towards  the 
Chinese,  yet  it  is  incontestable  that  they  were  intruders 
in  a  country  which  had  an  organized  government  and  a 
civilization  which  was  entitled  to  respectful  consideration. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  many  students  that  the  charge 
of  being  overbearing,  cruel,  and  uncivilized  lies  rather  at 
the  door  of  the  Europeans  than  with  the  Chinese. 

In  1834  there  came  a  clash  between  the  armed  forces 
of  the  two  countries,  Great  Britain  and  China.  The 
select  Committee  of  the  East  India  Company  respected 
its  notice,  given  in  1831,  that  its  ships  would  no  longer 
go  to  China,  but  that  a  King's  Officer  would  be  sent  out 
as  chief  to  manage  the  affairs  of  British  trade.  The 
Chinese  authorities  naturally  associated  this  oflScer 
with  the  traders  they  already  knew  and  expected  him 
to  deport  himself  accordingly.  The  very  different 
views  of  the  British  Government  of  course  led  to  further 
misunderstanding.  The  British  authority  was  sup- 
ported by  the  presence  of  men-of-war,  and  two  of  these, 
in  that  same  year,  had  a  fight  with  several  native  craft 
and  several  Chinese  were  killed.  In  November  the 
disastrous  dispute  about  the  opium  trade  began,  and  in 
January  of  the  next  year  the  Argyle  was  seized  and 
her  crew  imprisoned.     Then,  in  February,  the  first  lot 


128  THE     COMING     CHINA 

of  confiscated  opium  was  burnt  at  Canton.  Lin  Tseh- 
sii  had  been  made  Governor- General  of  the  two  Kwang 
provinces  by  Imperial  appointment  made  at  a  special 
audience  in  1838,  and  given  commission  to  put  down 
the  opium  trade.  Of  this  man's  character  no  writer 
of  recognized  authority  has  aught  to  say  but  good; 
while  the  fact  that  he  was  exceptionally  open-minded 
and  progressive  for  his  time  would  seem  to  be  indicated 
by  his  having  prepared,  in  1841,  a  partial  translation 
of  Murray's  "Cyclopaedia  of  Geography,"  in  twenty 
volumes.  He  arrived  at  Canton  in  1839  ^^^  ^^  once 
ordered  the  opium  to  be  seized.  To  enforce  his  act, 
he  forbade  the  British  and  other  foreign  merchants 
leaving  Canton;  the  factories  were  surrounded  and  sev- 
eral outrages  committed.  Captain  Elliott,  the  chief 
British  trade  commissioner,  requested  the  British  sub- 
jects to  surrender  all  their  opium  and  promised  that 
full  value  should  be  paid  for  it.  Half  of  the  holdings 
was  given  up  as  contraband  to  the  Chinese,  and  the 
remainder  (20,283  chests  —  from  116  lbs.  per  chest 
to  140  lbs.  per  chest  according  to  brand,  and  worth  then 
over  $400  per  chest).  In  May,  Elliott  and  the  British 
merchants  were  permitted  to  leave  Canton  and  very 
soon  afterward  the  opium  was  destroyed.  As  a  punitive 
measure,  in  part,  but  also  that  there  might  be  some  sort 
of  residential  place  not  quite  so  completely  under  the 
control  of  Chinese  inimical  authorities  as  was  Canton, 
Hongkong  was  seized  in  August,  1839.  At  that 
same  time  the  British  gunboat  Black  Jack  was 
attacked  and  the  crew  murdered.  Then  the  British 
merchants  who  had  been  living  at  Macao,  with  others 


CHINA     S     ATTITUDE     IN    THE     PAST      I29 

who  had  gone  there  from  Canton,  withdrew  to  Hong- 
kong. The  Chinese  became  extremely  bold  and  offen- 
sive towards  the  end  of  1839,  and  near  the  end  of  that 
year,  twenty-eight  armed  junks  made  a  combined  attack 
upon  the  British  warships,  Volage  and  Hyacinth; 
it  was  entirely  imsuccessful  and  several  of  the  junks 
were  blown  up.  In  the  next  May,  1840,  the  ship  "Hel- 
las" was  attacked,  and  the  patience  of  the  Britons 
became  exhausted;  a  blockade  of  Canton  was  ordered 
by  the  commander  of  the  fleet,  Sir  Gordon  Bremer, 
and  this  was  virtually  the  beginning  of  armed  hostil- 
ities. The  Chinese  knew  nothing  of  the  etiquette  of 
a  flag  of  truce,  and  when  the  gunboat  "Blonde" 
approached  Amoy  in  July,  1840,  flying  such  a  flag  and 
desiring  to  make  a  friendly  communication,  the  effort 
was  misunderstood  and  she  was  fired  upon.  The 
Chusan  Archipelago,  off  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtze 
River,  was  attacked  and  Ting-hai,  the  capital,  surren- 
dered. By  the  middle  of  July,  1840,  a  fairly  effective 
blockade  had  been  established  all  along  the  China  coast 
by  British  ships.  Commissioner  Lin  was  degraded  in 
September,  1840,  and  Keshin  appointed  in  his  place; 
but  the  foreigners  declined  to  continue  negotiations 
for  peace  and  a  renewal  of  trade,  because  of  alleged 
breaches  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  Emperor. 
In  the  early  part  of  1841  several  coast  cities  and  towns 
of  considerable  importance  surrendered  to  the  British, 
and  a  number  of  cannon  were  captured;  some  of  these 
were  sent  as  trophies  to  London.  Keshin  negotiated 
a  treaty  whereby  Hongkong  Island  was  ceded  to  Great 
Britain  and  an  indemnity  of  six  million  dollars  was  agreed 


130  THE    COMING    CHINA 

to  be  paid  within  ten  days  to  the  British  authorities; 
it  was  done  in  January,  1841,  but  the  news  of  the  rejec- 
tion of  this  treaty  by  the  Emperor  was  received  in 
February,  and  forthwith  hostilities  were  resumed;  the 
British  left  the  Chusan  Archipelago  the  next  day. 
Immediately,  in  Canton,  a  reward  was  offered  for  the 
bodies  of  Englishmen,  dead  or  alive,  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  were  promised  to  any  one  who  should  deUver 
the  head  of  a  British  "chief."  The  fleet,  under  com- 
mand of  Sir  Gordon  Bremer,  captured  the  Bogue  Forts 
and  proceeded  on  to  Canton.  A  brief  respite  of  hostil- 
ities was  had  in  March,  1841,  but  speedily  they  were 
resumed,  whereupon  Keshin  was  degraded  for  his  ineffi- 
ciency, Canton  was  threatened  and  soon  entered,  the 
heights  behind  the  city  were  successfully  assaulted  in 
May,  and  the  city  ransomed  for  six  million  dollars, 
whereupon  hostilities  were  declared  to  have  ceased; 
but  this  was  mere  verbiage  on  the  part  of  the  British, 
for,  on  some  flimsy  pretext,  Amoy  was  taken  in  August 
of  that  same  year,  while  in  September  the  Bogue  Forts 
were  again  destroyed.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  the 
Archipelago  of  Chusan  was  once  more  reoccupied  by  the 
British  and  the  capital,  Ting-hai,  was  taken.  The  Brit- 
ish fleet  passed  on  to  Chinhae  (Chehkiang),  Ningpo, 
and  many  other  places  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtze. 
In  March  of  the  following  year  the  Chinese  attacked 
the  British  at  Ningpo  and  Chinhae  but  were,  of  course, 
repulsed  with  great  loss;  at  Tsz-ki,  near  the  former  place, 
eight  thousand  of  them  were  routed  with  heavy  loss. 
In  January,  1842,  the  British  squadron  entered  the 
Yangtze,  captured  Woosung,  and  proceeded  up  the  Woo- 


china's  attitude  in  the  past    131 

sung  River  to  Shanghai.  In  July  it  anchored  near  "  Gol- 
den Isle"  up  the  great  river;  Chinkiang  was  taken,  the 
Tartar  general  and  many  of  the  garrison  committed 
suicide,  partly  to  escape  falling  into  the  hands  of  their 
captors,  but  mainly  to  escape  the  disgrace  and  punish- 
ment that  their  Emperor  would  surely  inflict.  In 
August,  1842,  the  fleet  arrived  off  Nanking  and  troops 
were  disembarked  on  the  ninth.  Keshin,  restored  to 
Imperial  favour  and  given  fidl  plenipotentiary  powers, 
arrived  at  Nanking  on  August  12.  A  treaty  of  peace 
was  signed  on  board  the  frigate  Cornwallis,  off 
Ningpo,  by  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  for  Great  Britain, 
and  Keshin  and  Ilipu,  for  China.  As  an  example  of 
the  giddy  height  to  which  broad  farce  can  soar,  the 
terms  of  this  treaty  —  it  is  to  be  found  in  many  books, 
"The  Middle  Kingdom,"  for  example  —  are  to  be  com- 
mended, considering  the  rime,  the  circumstances,  the 
principals  thereto  and  their  agents,  the  blending  of  the 
nauseous  "there  shall  be  lasting  peace  between  the  two 
nations"  with  six  million  dollars  to  be  paid  as  the 
value  of  the  opium  which  was  delivered  up  "as  a  ransom 
for  the  lives  of  H.  B.  M.'s  Superintendent  and  subjects," 
three  million  dollars  for  debts  due  British  merchants, 
twelve  million  dollars  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  the 
expedition  sent  out  "to  obtain  redress  for  the  violent 
and  tmjust  proceedings  of  the  Chinese  high  author- 
ities"; these  were  enough  to  make  the  Chinese  wish  they 
had  never  laid  eyes  on  this  new  type  of  "Foreign  Devil." 
Five  ports  were  opened  for  trade  and  foreign  residence 
—  Canton,  Amoy ,  Foochow,  Ningpo,  Shanghai ;  while 
"it  being  obviously  necessary  and  desirable  that  Brit- 


132  THE    COMING    CHINA 

ish  subjects  should  have  some  port  whereat  they  may 
careen  and  refit  their  ships  when  required,"  the  Island 
of  Hongkong  was  ceded  to  Her  Majesty.  Ratifica- 
tions signed  by  Queen  Victoria  and  Emperor  Tao 
Kuang  were  formally  exchanged  July  24,  1843.  But 
after  all,  in  April,  1847,  the  Bogue  Forts  were  again  cap- 
tured by  the  British  for  some  Httle  sHp  that  would 
scarcely  need  the  exchange  of  notes  to-day.  Emperor 
Tao  Kuang  died  February  25,  1850,  six  months  before 
the  dreadful  Taeping  Rebellion  broke  out;  he  was  a 
man  who  was  ahead  of  his  time;  he  was  liberal  in  his 
views,  keen  for  the  introduction  of  European  arts,  and 
could  he  have  carried  his  countrymen  with  him,  prob- 
ably the  awakening  of  China  would  not  have  been  de- 
ferred half  a  century.  His  son  was  weak  and  foolish; 
he  turned  back  the  wheels  of  progress,  and  gave  oppor- 
tunity for  a  plebeian,  Tien-teh  ("Celestial  Virtue"), 
to  start  an  internal  war  which  was  not  suppressed  until 
Ward  and  Gordon  came  to  the  rescue  of  China  some  ten 
years  later.  In  October,  1856,  came  the  episode  of  the 
lorcha  Arrow,  a  Chinese  pirate  and  smuggler,  yet  by 
reason  of  the  provisions  against  which  Sir  Robert  Hart, 
an  Englishman,  inveighs,  registered  as  a  British  vessel 
and  "flying  the  British  colours  to-day  and  the  Chinese 
to-morrow,  as  suited  the  convenience  of  her  disrepu- 
table owners."  This  episode  is  referred  to  in  some  works 
of  reference  as  "the  outrage  committed  upon  the  British 
lorcha  Arrow  in  Canton  River."  (Haydn's  Dictionary 
of  Dates.) 

Again  hostilities  were  renewed,  forts  burnt,  Chinese 
fleets  destroyed.  Canton  bombarded  and  taken  by  the 


CHINAS     ATTITUDE     IN    THE     PAST       I33 

combined  English  and  French  forces  in  1857.  The  next 
year  these  allies  moved  to  the  north  and  arrived  at  the 
Peiho  River,  Tientsin,  on  their  way  to  Peking.  The 
new  treaty  *'of  peace  and  friendship,"  signed  in  June, 
1858,  was  excellent  in  its  terms,  since  it  provided  for 
diplomatic  representatives,  recognized  and  tolerated 
Christianity,  provided  for  a  revised  custom  tarifif,  and 
forbade  the  use  of  the  term  "barbarian"  when  speaking 
of  foreigners;  but  it  also  provided  for  "legalized  opium"; 
of  course  all  expenses  of  the  expedition  were  to  be  borne 
by  China.  But  even  this  treaty  was  not  lasting,  for 
in  October,  1859,  a  combined  British  and  French  expe- 
dition against  China  fitted  out  and  war  began  again  in 
i860.  After  vain  negotiations,  the  allies  advanced 
upon  and  occupied  Peking,  defeating  the  Chinese  at 
several  places  between  Tientsin  and  the  capital.  It  is 
but  right  to  mention  a  piece  of  treachery  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese,  which  has  never  been  condoned  by  any- 
one. A  company  of  EngUsh  and  French  ofl&cials,  cor- 
respondents, and  guards  advanced  to  Tung-chow  to 
arrange  conditions  for  a  meeting  of  ministers;  they  were 
taken  prisoners,  two  were  beheaded,  and  the  rest  so  bru- 
tally treated  that  two  more  died.  In  October,  i860,  a 
convention  was  signed,  the  treaty  of  Tientsin  ratified, 
apology  made,  another  large  indemnity  exacted,  Kow- 
loon  ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  exchange  for  Chusan, 
and  a  promise  made  that  the  treaty  and  convention 
should  be  published  throughout  the  empire.  The  allies 
left  Peking  in  November,  i860;  Canton  was  restored 
to  the  Chinese  in  October,  1861;  and  this  is  the  end  of 
the  story  of  China's  wars  with  foreigners  up  to  the  pres- 


134  THE    COMING    CHINA 

ent  time.  The  short  and  decisive  war  with  Japan  in 
1894-1895  comes  in  quite  a  different  category,  and  has 
no  bearing  upon  this  story,  save  in  that  it  emphasized 
China's  military  weakness. 

The  British  and  French  assisted  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment in  suppressing  the  Taeping  RebeUion,  and  through 
their  efforts  Ningpo  was  retaken  in  May,  1862,  and  not 
long  after  that  the  Rebellion  was  totally  suppressed. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  the  fact  that  the  American 
Government  has  always  set  its  face  against  armed  demon- 
strations. There  have  been  times,  to  be  sure,  when 
unwillingness  to  show  its  strength  has  operated  to  the 
disadvantage  of  citizens,  yet  those  were  in  days  now  long 
past  and  the  effect  of  our  sustained  peaceful  attitude 
has  since  been  altogether  for  good.  The  Chinese  even- 
tually learnt  their  own  weakness  in  war,  and  came  to 
see  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  maintain  their 
exclusiveness;  that  poHcy  was  abandoned  some  time  ago, 
and  we  have  no  reason  to  beHeve  that  there  will  ever  be 
a  revival  of  it.  That  weakness  has  recently  been  brought 
out  by  the  unjust  demand  of  Russia  being  granted. 
That  China  is  right  in  the  position  she  took  this  year 
(191 1)  against  Russia,  admits  of  no  doubt;  but  the  wis- 
dom for  which  in  the  past  she  has  paid  so  dearly  in 
money  and  in  territory,  taught  her  to  submit  to  further 
humiHation  for  the  time  being;  and  to  bide  her  time  until 
by  diplomacy  —  perhaps  supported  by  a  properly  organ- 
ized and  well  equipped  army — she  can  recover  her  rights. 
If  that  time  comes,  it  is  possible  that  the  effort  to  recover 
rights  may  go  further  than  the  mere  asserting  of  a  deter- 
mination to  sustain  then  existing  autonomous  rights. 


CHAPTER  VI 

POSSIBILITY   OF   DYNASTIC   CHANGE 

UNTIL  within  a  comparatively  short  time,  Dr.  S. 
Wells  Williams'  statement,  *  that  the  history  of 
the  Chinese  people  has  appealed  with  less  force  than  it 
richly  deserves  to  Western  scholars,  would  have  been 
literally  true;  not  that  there  has  ever  been  a  time  since 
the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century  when  there  were  no 
accounts  of  the  Chinese  nation  and  people  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Europeans,  but  that  this  available  material  was 
looked  upon  as  appealing  specially  to  a  particular  class 
of  students,  and  not  as  possessing  interest  for  the  general 
reader.  Coming  down  to  the  time  in  the  early  sixteenth 
century  when  renewed  interest  in  China  was  aroused  as 
offering  most  attractive  opportunities  for  the  commercial 
adventurer,  we  find  a  good  deal  of  literature  at  our  dis- 
posal; yet  it  still  is  rather  special  than  general;  or  what 
may  be  said  to  appeal  to  the  general  reader  is  rather  in 
the  line  of  the  quaint  and  legendary,  with  somewhat  of 
the  social  and  descriptive.  There  seemed  to  be  a  con- 
sensus of  opinion  that  China  was  an  impossible  sort  of  a 
country  and  that,  therefore,  its  history  should  not  be 
taken  seriously.  One  must,  of  course,  accept  —  per- 
haps not  as  fact,  but  as  a  basis  —  the  statement  of  the 
native  historians  when  beginning  the  study  of  the  his- 

*"The  Middle  Kingdom,"  Chap.  XVII. 
135 


136  THE     COMING    CHINA 

tory  of  any  new  country;  and  the  startling  declarations 
made  as  to  Chinese  cosmogony  at  once  repelled  the 
serious  student,  while  its  mixture  of  sense  and  nonsense 
could  serve  only  to  amuse  the  dabbler  in  folklore  tales 
and  inconsequent  mythology. 

There  is  no  serious  student  who  denies  to  the  Chinese 
people  an  antiquity  and  a  consecutive  history  that  are 
almost  without  parallel  in  the  records  of  this  world. 
Like  all  other  people,  the  Chinese  have  their  mytholog- 
ical history  and  one  that  is  so  plausible,  at  least  so  ap- 
pealing to  the  mind  undeveloped  by  the  precision  of 
modern  science,  as  to  have  gained  the  endorsement  of 
imitation;  because  when  we  examine  Japanese  records 
carefully,  the  Kojiki  and  the  Nihongi,  we,  who  are 
familiar  with  cognate  literature  in  China,  are  at  once 
struck  with  a  resemblance,  or,  if  that  word  is  a  little 
too  strong,  let  us  say  we  are  led  to  suspect  that  the 
compilers  of  those  early  Japanese  records  certainly 
knew  something  about  the  Chinese  Yik-King,  "Book  of 
Records,"  and  other  literature  of  the  same  sort.  The 
temptation  to  follow  the  parallel,  which  certainly  seems 
to  exist,  between  that  which  is  distinctly  original  in 
China  and  that  which  is  suspiciously  imitative  in  Japan, 
is  very  strong;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  originality  is 
almost  absolutely  a  negative  quantity  in  Japan,  although 
the  natural  gift  which  enables  the  Japanese  to  add  much 
to  that  which  they  borrow,  to  improve  it  oftentimes  and 
in  many  ways  and  with  great  success,  is  thoroughly 
admirable;  the  temptation  must  be  resisted  here.  Wil- 
liams' remark  would  apply  even  now,  if  we  mean  the 
study  of  an  ancient  history  that  is  well  worthy  to  receive 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  I37 

careful  attention,  for  no  Bancroft,  Gibbon,  or  Niebuhr 
has  yet  devoted  his  genius  to  China.  What  has  been 
somewhat  conspicuous  in  literature  devoted  to  China,  of 
recent  years,  let  us  say  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  is 
the  fact  that  while  it  has  been  very  slightly  historic,  it 
has  been  mainly  political  and  sociological;  oftentimes 
foolishly  sensational.  Even  in  what  we  have  had  that 
was  new,  there  have  been  some  curious  and  instructive 
changes :  a  bibHography  would  be  highly  interesting,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  here;  just  a  few  titles  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  point  that  it  is  desired  to  make.  A  little 
over  twenty-five  years  ago  the  author  of  "The  Far 
Eastern  Question"  wrote  of  China's  condition,  social, 
industrial,  financial,  pohtical,  as  if  it  were  hopeless;  as 
if  the  people  were  so  indifferent  to  their  own  well-being 
and  progress  as  to  be  helpless.  Then,  after  China's  easy 
defeat  by  Japan  in  the  short,  sharp,  and  decisive  cam- 
paign of  1894-1895,  only  seventeen  years  ago,  the  tone 
of  Western  opinion,  discouragingly  pessimistic  it  must 
have  seemed  to  the  loyal  Chinese,  was  clearly  indicated 
by  the  titles  of  the  books  about  China  then  prepared  for 
us:  "The  Break-up  of  China,"  "The  Partition  of  China"; 
the  writers  rarely  seeming  to  give  due  weight  to  the 
fact  that  from  1868,  or  the  latest,  1872,  Japan  had  been 
sedulously  preparing  herself  for  that  very  conflict,  zeal- 
ously studying  European  methods  of  war,  and  straining 
her  resources  to  develop  an  army  and  a  navy;  while 
China  (as  a  nation)  had  absolutely  refused  to  do  any- 
thing of  the  kind.  The  nineteenth  century  had  not 
closed,  however,  before  even  stagnant  old  China  began 
to  show  some    quaHties  of  resistance;  just  before  and 


138  THE     COMING     CHINA 

immediately  after  the  "Boxer"  insurrection  of  1900,  it 
was  clear  that  the  lethargy  had  been  overcome,  and  this 
fact  was  reflected  in  the  tone  which  Western  writers, 
most  of  them  Americans,  adopted,  recognizing  this 
change;  "The  Awakening  of  China,"  or  "The  Recon- 
struction of  China,"  was  the  theme.  Still  later,  within 
a  year  or  two,  with  the  deepening  confidence  in  the 
permanency  of  this  change,  the  titles  are  "China  and 
America  To-day,"  "Changing  China,"  "The  Educa- 
tional Conquest  of  China."  China  has  now  thrown  oflf 
so  much  of  her  ten  thousand  years'  accumulated  stag- 
nation and  lethargy  as  to  entitle  her  name  to  be  coupled 
with  the  active,  progressive,  "hustling"  America;  the 
unchangeable  has  been  transformed  into  the  changing; 
it  is  no  longer  military  effort  to  force  open  doors  that 
the  keepers  would  still  bar  and  bolt  —  or  punitive 
missions  of  allies  to  extort  compensation  for  alleged 
outrage;  but  the  conquest  is  now  to  be  one  in  which  the 
Chinese  themselves  are  to  be  as  active  in  overthrowing 
their  own  obsolescent  institutions  as  are  the  one-time 
"outer  barbarians";  the  old  forms  of  government  are 
to  be  changed,  it  may  be;  the  rigid,  useless,  educational 
methods  must  be  completely  wiped  out. 

It  is  almost  an  affront  to  the  intelligence  of  the  ob- 
servers to  say  that  changes  of  the  most  stupendous 
import,  and  almost  cataclysmic  in  their  effects,  are  mani- 
festly to  take  place  in  China  before  long;  the  changes 
which  the  past  ten  years  have  wrought  were  radical,  it 
cannot  be  denied,  yet  they  were  but  suggestions  of  what 
is  likely  to  be.  When  Her  Majesty,  the  late  Empress 
Dowager,  on  September  2,   1906,  issued  that  decree: 


Paper  Money  used  as  Offerings  for  the  Dead 


Electric  Cars  on  the  Garden  Bridge,  Shanghai 


DYNASTIC    CHANGE  I39 

"Let  there  be  no  delay  in  making  China  a  Constitu- 
tional Government,"  she  was  —  as  we  know  —  merely 
giving  executive  force  to  what  her  nephew,  the  late 
Emperor  Kuang  Hsii,  had  attempted  some  eight  years 
before.  Next  to  that  other  edict  which  abolished  the 
old-tune  competitive  examination  for  oflScial  preferment, 
declared  to  be  the  most  radical  step  ever  taken  by  a 
Chinese  sovereign,  this  order,  which  contemplated  such 
a  change  in  the  governmental  system,  was  one  to  shake 
the  empire  to  its  very  foundation;  and  certainly  neither 
Her  Majesty  nor  her  advisers  realized  what  a  possible 
Pandora-box  she  was  opening.  For  the  Chinese,  with 
all  their  seeming  stoHd  indifference  to  changes  or  im- 
provements, have  at  all  times  evinced  a  singular  dispo- 
sition to  have  their  own  way.  Never  in  the  course  of 
their  history  have  they  been  known  tamely  to  submit 
to  an  Imperial  decree  which  was  distasteful  to  them  or 
which  they  conceived  to  be  subversive  of  their  inde- 
pendence. In  a  way,  they  have  displayed  a  truly 
remarkable  democratic  spirit,  quite  the  reverse  from 
what  the  casual  reader  or  the  superficial  observer  at 
close  range  would  naturally  be  led  to  expect;  even  an 
Imperial  decree  has  not  infrequently  been  made  utterly 
inoperative  by  the  quiet,  passive  opposition  of  the  dwell- 
ers in  a  city,  or  the  peasants  of  a  district;  and  repeatedly 
that  democratic  spirit  has  verged  upon  rebellion  when 
the  people  have  declared:  "We  will  not  have  this  man 
to  rule  over  us."  Time  and  again  officials  sent  from 
Peking,  bearing  Imperial  commissions,  even  viceroys  of 
the  highest  rank,  have  been  compelled  to  ask  for  transfer, 
when  by  word  or  deed  they  have  incurred  the  disfavour 


I40  THE     COMING    CHINA 

of  the  people  they  were  sent  to  govern;  and  rarely  has 
this  exhibition  of  dissatisfaction  been  calmly  or  violently 
ignored. 

This  fact  makes  us  think  seriously  of  what  may 
easily  happen  after  19 16,  when  it  is  now  expected  this 
Constitutional  Government  experiment  may  attain  to 
the  dignity  of  actual  operation.  If  the  isolated  groups 
that  have  from  time  to  time  asserted  themselves  in 
opposition  to  the  wish  of  "The  Son  of  Heaven"  shall  be 
united  into  one  mass  of  representatives  who  may  take 
counsel  together  for  all,  it  is  not  indiscreet  prophecy  to 
say  that  it  may  easily  happen  that  this  united  voice 
may  declare  that  it  will  not  let  this  man  rule  over  us; 
that  is  to  say,  there  may  come  a  demand  for  dynastic 
change  which  cannot  be  ignored;  to  go  beyond  that  and 
say  this  voice  may  call,  not  only  for  representative  gov- 
ernment, but  for  a  representative  head  of  that  govern- 
ment, is  decidedly  premature,  to  say  no  more  for  it. 
That  a  change  in  the  central  government  is  necessary 
to  satisfy  the  growing  strength  of  the  reformers,  outside 
of  the  officials  who  now  form  parties  at  and  near  the 
Court,  is  not  to  read  inaccurately  the  signs  of  the  times. 
There  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  present  signs  of 
internal  trouble  in  the  Chinese  Empire;  those  who  have 
watched  events  carefully  have  been  rather  astonished 
that  it  has  not  come  sooner.  There  are  now  so  many 
newspapers  published  in  China,  and  facilities  for  sending 
them  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  realm  are  now  so 
adequate,  that  the  power  which  comes  with  knowledge 
has  attained  proportions  that  surprise  Chinese  leaders 
themselves  and  would  amaze  all  foreigners  who  were 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  141 

accustomed  to  conditions  of  a  score  of  years  ago.  The 
experiment  of  Provincial  Assemblies  was  not  a  failure, 
simply  it  was  insufficiently  carried  out;  the  desire  for 
these  is  growing  stronger  all  the  time  and  is  likely  to 
win  the  day.  This  desire,  if  gratified,  will  —  of  course 
—  bring  trouble;  but  China  has  no  reason  to  expect  that 
her  own  experience  shall  go  contrary  to  the  record  of 
history,  and  such  a  stupendous  transformation  as  rep- 
resentative Provincial  Assemblies  would  mean  to  the 
enormous  population  of  China,  will  be  measured  in 
trouble  of  its  kind,  directly  as  the  huge  proportions  of 
those  affected.  There  are  no  disturbing  signs  of  a  revo- 
lution —  China's  history  is  singularly  free  from  records 
of  such  internal  disasters;  indeed,  we  believe  there  is 
but  one  recorded,  although  there  have  been  numerous 
rebellions.  If  this  Provincial  Assembly  of  1909  accom- 
phshed  nothing,  and  if  the  attempt  to  hold  a  National 
Parliament  in  iqio  was  declared  by  some,  not  all,  to  be 
a  failure,  it  was  because  conditions  were  not  yet  properly 
adjusted;  not  because  of  any  local  or  national  defect. 

Before  hazarding  an  opinion  as  to  which  direction  the 
choice  will  take,  if  the  change  is  to  be  dynastic  merely, 
it  is  well  to  know  something  of  those  dynasties  which 
preceded  the  present  one,  Ts'ing  —  known  to  foreigners 
as  the  "Manchu."  The  reader  need  not  be  apprehen- 
sive of  tedious  details;  the  long  Hst  of  main  dynasties 
and  subdivisions;  the  string  of  names,  difficult  to  read; 
and  dates  that  are  so  often  merely  fanciful,  will  all  be 
omitted,  and  nothing  but  a  few  general  remarks  that  are 
of  wider  bearing  will  be  introduced  here;  a  synoptical 
table  will  be  found  as  an  appendix;  this  is  taken  from 


142  THE     COMING    CHINA 

Prof.  Herbert  A.  Giles'  Chinese-English  Dictionary, 
and  is  considered  the  best  condensed  record  of  the  Chi- 
nese dynasties.  To  explain  what  may  seem  a  Httle 
puzzling  imder  "The  Three  Kingdoms,"  "Division 
into  North  and  South,"  and  "The  Five  Dynasties,"  it 
is  well  to  condense  from  Williams'  "The  Middle  King- 
dom," and  Boulger's  "History  of  China."  When  the 
powerful  Han  Dynasty  lost  its  hold  and  disappeared  in 
the  masses  of  the  people,  China  was  split  up  into  three 
independent  kingdoms.  Subsequent  historians,  feeling 
that  this  rather  reflected  on  the  national  honour,  have 
put  these  three  states  together  and  treat  them  as  one 
kingdom;  although  there  is  no  doubting  the  fact  that 
there  were,  at  that  period,  three  distinct  governments  in 
China.  Next,  when  Liu  Yu  assumed  the  Imperial 
dignity  in  the  year  420  a.d.  and  proclaimed  himself 
Emperor  by  the  name  of  "Kautson,"  the  founder  of  the 
Sung  Dynasty,  China  was  still  a  house  divided  against 
itself.  Six  kingdoms  had  been  established  within  the 
borders  of  the  Northern  provinces,  and  each  aspired  to 
bring  its  neighbours  to  its  feet  and  to  figure  as  the 
regenerator  of  the  empire. 

The  Sungs  were  never  more  than  one  ruler  among 
many;  and  their  government,  always  that  of  only  a  small 
section  of  the  Chinese  nation,  was  in  reality  but  one 
added  to  the  other  six.  The  period  of  the  Five  Small 
Dynasties  is  the  least  satisfactory  and  interesting  in  the 
whole  length  of  Chinese  history;  it  is  passed  over  by 
native  historians  with  very  brief  mention,  the  very  short 
reigns  of  the  thirteen  emperors  being  without  event  of 
importance.     Under   the  Liao  rulers   the   empire   was 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  I43 

reunited,  but  with  the  advent  of  the  later  Sung  came 
the  weakening  of  the  Imperial  power  which  soon  left  the 
empire  an  easy  prey  for  the  intruding  and  usurping 
Mongols,  the  Yuan  Dynasty. 

The  Chinese  claim  for  themselves  an  antiquity  which 
is  simply  extravagant.  Back  of  the  period  known  to 
their  historians  as  the  "Highest  Antiquity,"  beginning 
with  a  date  2852  or  3322  B.C.,  stretches  the  mythologi- 
cal era  for  anywhere  from  twenty  thousand  to  five  hun- 
dred thousand  years,  and  the  accounts  which  they  give 
of  the  creation  are  just  as  laughable  as  any  other  fanciful 
cosmogonies.  Theirs,  however,  has  received  the  en- 
dorsement of  imitation  by  their  pupils  in  this  as  in  many 
other  respects,  the  Japanese,  for  there  is  more  than 
accidental  resemblance  between  the  performances  of  the 
Japanese  creator  and  creatress  and  those  of  China's 
Pwanku,  labouring  under  the  inspiration  or  with  the 
cooperation  of  Yang  and  Yin.  With  the  pushing  back 
of  the  world's  history  by  the  efforts  of  scientific  and 
Christian  explorers,  we  are  no  longer  bound  and  tied 
down  by  what  was  given  as  precise  dates  in  our  Bible 
margins;  so  that  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  years,  or 
even  more,  to  the  time  when  this  earth  became  a  fit 
residence  for  human  beings,  no  longer  appalls  us.  There 
were  certainly  people  on  the  earth  five  or  six  thousand 
years  ago,  and  very  much  longer  than  that,  and  if  we 
feel  that  we  cannot  exactly  allow  that  the  present  Chi- 
nese were  in  China  as  long  ago  as  five  thousand  years, 
we  may  generously  admit  that  they  have  a  continuous 
history  by  the  side  of  which  nothing  else  that  we  know 
can  stand  for  a  moment. 


144  THE     COMING     CHINA 

We  need  not,  for  the  present  purposes,  give  ourselves 
concern  about  the  mythical  dynasties;  nor  is  it  pertinent 
to  consider  the  earliest  which  belongs  in  a  history  that 
has  been  accepted  and  approved  by  such  students  as 
Legge,  Maillu,  and  many  others.  With  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  we  are  on  firm  ground  and  within 
the  record  of  the  dynasties  whose  influence  may  have 
extended  itself  to  modern  times.  In  the  days  when  the 
later  Han  or  Eastern  Han  reigned  over  the  whole  of 
China  (25-221  a.d.)  we  discern  a  condition  that  did 
much  to  mould  the  Chinese  character  and  to  give  per- 
manency to  the  polity  and  institutions  which  governed 
the  people  for  nearly  2000  years.  If  we  include  the 
former,  or  Western  Han,  who  began  to  reign  206-2  B.C., 
"an  instructive  parallel  can  be  drawn  between  the  char- 
acter and  acts  of  the  emperors  who  reigned  four  hun- 
dred years  in  China  and  the  numerous  consuls,  dictators, 
and  emperors  who  governed  the  Roman  Empire  for  the 
same  period  from  the  time  of  Scipio  Africanus  to  Helio- 
gabalus;"  but  if  we  pursue  the  parallel,  the  descent  in 
Europe  to  the  darkness  and  ignorance  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  the  persistence  in  China  of  what  was  already 
a  high  degree  of  civilization,  is  not  perhaps  so  flattering 
to  our  Western  pride  as  might  be.  The  Chinese  of  the 
old  school  —  speaking  as  of  to-day  —  hold  in  the  highest 
esteem  the  founder  of  this  Han  Dynasty  (Kao  Ti  or 
Kao  Tsu)  because  he  instituted  the  system  of  compet- 
itive examination  for  all  comers  who  sought  appointment 
in  the  ranks  of  government  officials;  his  successors.  Wen 
Ti,  Wu  Ti,  and  Kuang  Wu  Ti,  are  all  almost  equally 
famous  for  the  encouragement  they  gave  to  letters,  com- 


H^^K 

^^ 

1 

Zi-KA-WEi:    Native  Houseboats 


Wall  at  Soochow 


DYNASTIC    CHANGE  145 

merce,  arts,  and  good  government,  until  in  these  matters 
there  was  nothing  comparable  in  any  other  part  of  Asia. 
But  it  was  the  great  T'ai  Tsung  (627-650  a.d.),  of  the 
T'ang  Dynasty,  who  gave  the  greatest  incentive  to  these 
literary  examinations,  estabhshing  the  system  which 
was  followed  —  practically  without  deviation  —  until 
1906.  In  the  West  the  power  of  Rome  had  brought 
its  own  influence;  then  came  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  the 
influence  of  His  teaching  within  the  borders  of  that 
Roman  Empire  made  the  period  during  which  the  Hans 
ruled  in  China  the  more  remarkable  as  a  parallel.  Be- 
tween the  time  when  the  later  or  Eastern  Han  was  over- 
thrown, 221  A.D.,  and  the  estabhshment  of  the  Eastern 
Tsin,  317,  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  Chinese 
history,  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  literature, 
was  developed;  the  moulding  of  character  is  recorded 
in  the  history  of  the  Three  Kingdoms;  but  it  reads  more 
like  an  historical  novel,  and  does  not  appeal  to  Chinese 
scholars.  The  various  native  dynasties  down  to  that 
of  the  great  T'ang  (618-907)  are  not  important  for  our 
present  purpose;  but  in  the  T'angs  we  have  something 
admittable.  Williams'  opinion  of  this  remarkable  dy- 
nasty has  been  so  often  quoted  and  so  warmly  endorsed 
that  it  is  well  known;  it  is  a  just  and  scholarly  estimate; 
but  there  are  others  who  have  a  like  meed  of  praise; 
indeed,  no  European  writer  has  ever  said  anything  to 
detract  from  the  lofty  reputation  of  the  T'angs,  espe- 
cially T'ai  Tsung,  the  second  emperor  in  the  line,  who 
reigned  from  627-650.  One  very  remarkable  thing  about 
him  was  that  he  used  but  a  single  eponym  for  his  entire 
reign;  usually  the  Chinese  emperors  vary  the  style  of 


146  THE    COMING    CHINA 

their  reign  because  of  some  "lucky"  event,  or  to  avert 
some  threatened  evil,  or  for  some  geomantic  whims,  but 
T'ai  Tsung  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  so  calmly 
that  there  was  no  need  for  change  in  name.  "Kao 
Tsu,  the  founder  of  the  T'ang  Dynasty,  wearying  of  the 
burden  of  his  oflSce  and  knowing  that  in  his  son  he  had 
a  more  than  worthy  successor,  for  that  son  had  long  been 
the  real  head  of  the  state,  determined  to  seek  the  charm 
and  relaxation  of  private  life;  his  son  T'ai  Tsung,  by  the 
voluntary  retirement  of  his  father,  assumed  the  position 
to  which  his  personal  quaHties  gave  him  every  right. 
The  first  acts  of  the  new  ruler  showed  that  he  would  rest 
satisfied  with  no  partial  degree  of  success  in  the  task  he 
had  set  himself  to  accomplish.  It  was  his  first  and  prin- 
cipal object  to  give  the  Chinese  the  benefit  of  a  govern- 
ment which  was  national  in  its  sympathy  and  in  its  aims. 
He  had  to  revive  the  sentiment  that  the  Chinese  were 
one  people  and  that  the  prosperity  of  the  realm  and  the 
ability  of  the  ruling  powers  depended  equally  on  the 
tranquillity  and  sense  of  security  which  should  generally 
prevail.  To  him  also  it  seemed  a  matter  of  first  im- 
portance to  extend  the  influence  of  the  Chinese  among 
the  neighbouring  states,  for  he  knew  that  by  so  doing 
he  should  alone  succeed  in  preserving  what  he  had  won. " 
Running  down  through  several  other  native  dynasties, 
not  one  of  which  possesses  for  us  sufficient  interest  to 
hold  our  attention,  we  come  to  the  Yuan  (Mongol),  the 
first  foreign  sway  to  which  the  Chinese  had  submitted; 
"their  resistance  to  the  army  which  gradually  overran 
the  country  was  weakened,  however,  by  treachery  and 
desultory  tactics,  until  the  national  spirit  was  frittered 


DYNASTIC    CHANGE  I47 

away."  During  the  interval  between  the  capture  of 
Peking  by  Genghis  Khan,  and  the  final  extinction  of  the 
Simg  Dynasty,  the  whole  population  had  become  some- 
what accustomed  to  Mongol  rule.  Having  no  organized 
government  of  their  own,  these  Khans  were  content  to 
allow  the  Chinese  the  full  exercise  of  their  own  laws,  if 
peace  and  taxation  were  duly  upheld.  Kublai  had  had 
ample  opportunity  to  learn  the  character  of  his  new 
subjects,  and  after  the  death  of  Mangu  Khan,  in  1260, 
and  his  own  establishment  at  Peking,  in  1264,  he  in 
fifteen  years  brought  his  vast  dominions  under  a  method- 
ical sway  and  developed  their  resources  more  than  ever. 
Though  failing  in  his  attempt  to  conquer  Japan,  he  en- 
larged elsewhere  his  vanishing  frontiers  during  his  life 
till  they  could  neither  be  defined  nor  governed. 

Following  the  Yuan,  or  Mongol,  Dynasty  came  the 
Ming,  and  to  this  we  must  give  some  careful  attention, 
in  order  to  arrive  at  something  like  an  opinion  as  to  the 
probability  or  unlikelihood  of  that  house  being  restored 
in  the  event  of  the  reigning  dynasty  being  dethroned. 
Tup  Timor,  the  thirteenth  emperor  of  the  Mongol 
Dynasty  (his  Chinese  title  is  Wenti),  did  nothing  of 
especial  importance  —  the  only  notable  event  of  his 
reign  was  the  reception  he  gave  the  Grand  Lama  of 
Tibet,  who  visited  Peking  in  1329.  As  Wenti  had  always 
been  a  devoted  and  enthusiastic  Buddhist,  he  was  in 
the  greatest  state  of  excitement  and  commanded  all 
his  courtiers  to  bend  the  knee  whenever  they  addressed 
the  Lama.  This  order  incensed  the  Mongol  soldiers, 
and  even  the  Chinese  at  Court  were  indignant  at  being 
compelled  to  make  obeisance  to  the  representarive  of  a 


148  THE     COMING    CHINA 

religion  which  most  of  them  despised.  The  President  of 
the  Hanhn  College  positively  refused  to  show  this  honour 
and  said,  when  speaking  to  the  Lama:  "You  are  the 
disciple  of  F5,  and  the  master  of  all  the  bonzes;  and  I 
am  the  disciple  of  Confucius,  the  head  of  all  the  literati 
of  this  empire.  Confucius  is  not  one  whit  less  illustrious 
than  Fo;  therefore  there  is  no  need  for  so  many  cere- 
monies between  us."  The  Grand  Lama  showed  his  tact 
by  smiling  and  placing  himself  in  the  same  position  as 
that  of  the  Chinese  President  (Mailla). 

Wenti's  death  in  1332,  after  only  three  years'  reign, 
appears  to  have  had  no  influence  in  checking  the  down- 
fall of  the  Mongols,  who  were  very  near  the  end  of  their 
rule.  A  mere  child,  Ilechepen,  or  Ning  Tsung,  a  son  of 
Hochila,  an  elder  brother  of  Wenti,  was  proclaimed  em- 
peror, but  he  lived  only  a  few  months  and  then  Tohan 
Timor,  the  eldest  son  of  Hochila,  was  placed  on  the 
throne  in  spite  of  an  effort  on  the  part  of  an  intriguing 
minister  to  prevent,  taking  the  name  of  Shun  Ti  or 
Hui  Tsung,  and  his  regime,  marked  by  a  succession  of 
misfortunes,  began  the  final,  rapid  decadence  and  fall  of 
the  Mongol  power.  The  most  disastrous  calamity  which 
befell  China  at  that  time  was  a  famine  in  which  some 
thirteen  million  persons  are  said  to  have  died,  and  this 
dreadful  catastrophe  was,  by  the  Chinese  people,  of 
course  attributed  to  the  personal  defect  of  the  Emperor 
in  having  displeased  the  gods.  The  first  distinct  rising 
of  the  Chinese  occurred  in  1337,  when  Chu  Kwang,  a 
native  of  Kwang  Tung,  raised  a  force  and  proclaimed 
that  the  Mongols  had  ceased  to  reign.  From  this 
beginning  the  defection  of  the  Chinese  progressed  rap- 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  I49 

idly,  and  when  a  young  man  named  Choo  Yuen-Chang 
gave  up  the  priesthood,  and  entered  the  army  as  a 
subaltern,  the  right  man  to  head  the  revolt  of  the  Chi- 
nese had  appeared.  In  Emperor  Keen  Lung's  history  of 
the  Mings,  it  is  declared  that  when  this  man  was  born 
the  room  was  several  times  filled  with  a  bright  Ught, 
although  he  was  the  son  of  obscure  parents.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  of  fine  presence,  courageous,  and  apt  in  his 
studies.  Once  in  the  army  his  promotion  was  rapid  and 
ere  long  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Chinese.  Late  in 
the  year  1367  Peking  was  captured  and  Shunti  fled 
across  the  border.  The  war  with  the  Mongols  still  con- 
tinued but  China  was  emancipated  from  the  Tartar  yoke. 
Choo  Yuen-Chang  mounted  the  throne  and  assumed  the 
name  of  Yuan  Chang  (T'ai  Tsu),  the  first  emperor  of  the 
Ming  Dynasty.  After  him,  although  there  were  several 
emperors  of  more  or  less  importance,  and  the  era  is 
considered  somewhat  brilHant,  yet  there  was  deteriora- 
tion continuously  until  the  reign  of  Yu  Chien  (Chuang 
Lieh  Ti)  brought  the  dynasty  to  a  close,  and  the  Man- 
chus  had  little  difficulty  in  obtaining  possession  of  the 
empire.  It  must  be  noted  that  the  Chinese  did  not 
submit  altogether  complacently  to  the  rule  of  the  Ming 
Dynasty.  Emperor  Yuan  Chang  was  able,  principally 
because  of  his  own  personality  and  power,  to  hold  the 
throne,  although  even  in  his  case  dissatisfaction  asserted 
itself  towards  the  end  of  his  reign  when  a  mutiny  of  a 
part  of  the  army,  led  by  an  ambitious  officer,  who  himself 
had  Imperial  aspirations,  threatened  serious  trouble  for 
a  time.  The  mutiny  was  nipped  in  the  bud,  the  leader 
was  punished  with  death,  impHcating  in  a  cowardly 


150  THE     COMING     CHINA 

manner  a  number  of  other  ofl&cers  and  soldiers  whose 
guilt  was  not  clearly  proved,  but  who  were  punished 
with  the  actual  leader.  Yuan  Chang  closed  his  reign 
tranquilly;  his  will  (given  in  full  by  Amiot,  "Memoires 
sur  les  Chinois")  is  an  interesting  document,  displaying 
much  learning,  and  expressing  sentiments  which  are 
commendable  for  their  patriotism  and  their  generosity. 
The  early  rulers  of  this  dynasty,  those  who  followed  im- 
mediately after  Yuang  Chang,  continued  to  display 
more  or  less  of  his  ability;  yet,  there  never  was  that 
perfect  tranquillity  which  has  rather  marked  the  rule  of 
the  Manchus;  for  Yi  Chiin  (the  thirteenth  in  the  line) 
found  himself  so  much  embarrassed  by  the  renewal  of 
hostilities  and  acts  of  open  rebellion  within  the  empire 
that  he  was  advised  to  withdraw  to  the  south  and  sub- 
mit to  a  division  of  the  state;  to  this  he  refused  to  listen, 
but  was  overcome  and  supplanted  by  his  uncle.  Later 
rulers,  too,  displayed  discretion  in  many  ways,  yet  the 
whole  of  the  Ming  domination  was  marked  by  internal 
trouble,  plots  of  various  kinds,  and  many  things  for 
which  Chinese  historians  hold  the  Emperor  personally 
responsible.  In  the  long  reign  of  Yi  Chiin  (1573-1620) 
the  Chinese  troops,  in  an  effort  to  maintain  China's  su- 
premacy in  Korea,  came  into  conflict  with  the  Japanese. 
Hideyoshi  Toyotomi,  perhaps  better  known  as  Taiko 
Sama,  having  organized  an  expedition  ostensibly  to 
punish  the  Koreans  for  alleged  affronts,  but  in  reality 
because  of  a  desire  "to  make  the  glory  of  Japan's  arm 
shine  beyond  the  sea,"  ordered  an  invasion.  The  result 
of  this  war,  if  it  may  be  dignified  with  that  appellation, 
while  not  actually  decisive,  was  certainly  not  in  Japan's 


DYNASTIC    CHANGE  15I 

favour  —  their  account  of  it  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing—  although  this  may  possibly  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  Hideyoshi  died  when  the  struggle  was  at  its 
height,  and  thus  the  controlling  spirit  of  the  expedition 
was  lost. 

Near  the  end  of  Yi  Chiin's  reign  there  was  remarkable 
development  in  the  intercourse  between  China  and  the 
nations  of  the  West.  The  coming  of  the  Portuguese  and 
Spaniards  has  been  noted  and  the  unsatisfactory  im- 
pression which  they  made  commented  upon.  "The 
Chinese  authorities  seem  to  have  regarded  with  blunt 
and  half-amused  curiosity  the  attempts  of  the  Christian 
missionaries  to  convert  them,  but,  although  two  high 
officials  were  at  least  christened,  and  extended  their 
protection  to  the  foreign  priests,  very  Httle  progress 
could  be  reported  in  the  work  they  had  undertaken.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  missionaries  were,  in  a  worldly 
sense,  most  useful.  They  reformed — on  the  recommen- 
dation of  a  Chinese  official,  Li  Chitsao  or  Peter,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Tribunal  of  Rites  at  Nanking  —  the  Chinese 
calendar  and  corrected  several  astronomical  errors.  The 
Imperial  Observatory  flourished  under  their  direction 
and  more  correct  maps  of  the  provinces  were  drawn 
under  their  supervision ;  in  short,  they  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Peking  ministers  their  superior  information, 
and,  in  return  for  the  practical  benefits  they  were  able 
to  confer,  they  received  the  rights  of  residency  and  fair 
treatment.  But  the  Chinese  remained  cold  in  any 
advances  towards  Christianity."  (Boulger.)  The  petty 
risings  in  various  parts  of  the  empire  indicate  the  utter 
lack  of  satisfaction  with  the  Ming  rule;  but  these  were  as 


152  THE     COMING    CHINA 

nothing  when  compared  with  what  was  threatening  along 
the  northeastern  borders,  and  before  the  Manchu  Tar- 
tars the  Ming  Dynasty  went  down  in  disgrace  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Chinese,  so  that  its  influence  can  hardly  be  called 
so  satisfactory  as  to  justify  the  suggestion  of  the  propriety 
of  recalling  the  line  in  the  event  of  dynastic  change. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  it  seems  unlikely  that  the 
Chinese  would  seek  for  a  descendant  of  this  Ming  Dy- 
nasty to  resume  the  throne  should  they  effectively  rid 
themselves  of  the  reigning  house.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  true  Chinese  have  never  had  any  love  for  the 
intruding  and  usurping  Manchus,  and  very  little  respect 
for  them ;  but  then  they  have  always  shown  a  remarkable 
indifference  about  who  really  did  reign  over  them;  their 
vision  not  seeming  to  be  strong  enough  to  see  just  who  is 
sitting  on  the  throne  far  away  in  the  capital.  They  are 
far  more  concerned  about  the  personal  character  and 
attainments  of  those  who  govern  them  near  at  hand.  If 
the  truth  were  known ,  it  would  probably  appear  that 
the  Manchus  have  little  respect  for  the  Chinese;  that 
they  have  never  got  over  the  apprehension  which  affected 
them  years  ago,  when  the  application  of  the  Europeans 
for  permission  to  trade  with  their  Chinese  subjects  was 
laid  before  them. 

There  remain  somewhere  in  China,  probably,  surviving 
branches  of  other  dynasties,  which  have  left  pleasing  rec- 
ords in  Chinese  history,  the  Sung,  or,  far  better,  the  T'ang. 
Of  the  latter  Sungs,  the  record  is  not  so  brilliant  as  to 
make  it  likely  that  the  Chinese  of  to-day  would  ever  think 
of  hunting  up  a  surviving  descendant  to  put  him  upon 
the  throne,  if  they  were  seeking  a  new  emperor  and  one 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  153 

who  should  be  truly  of  themselves;  besides,  the  origin  of 
those  Sungs  was  not  any  more  illustrious  than  is  that  of 
thousands  of  famiUes  in  the  South  of  China,  while  the 
Kin  Dynasty  that  was  contemporary,  ruHng  in  the  north, 
possessed  no  stronger  claim  upon  the  people  generally.  As 
to  the  great  T'ang  Dynasty,  its  glory  shone  out  so  bril- 
liantly at  the  very  beginning  that  when  Tai  Tsong's  name 
is  mentioned  it  seems  as  if  those  of  all  the  other  twenty- 
one  monarchs  in  the  Hne  are  dimmed  into  obscurity. 

Thus  it  comes  about  that  there  seems  to  be  no  Chinese 
line  from  which  to  choose  an  emperor,  if  the  necessity 
for  doing  so  should  arrive,  and  this  fact  makes  the  situa- 
tion all  the  more  grave.  Should  there  come  a  peaceful 
uprising  and  a  downfall  of  the  Manchus,  a  successor 
would  of  necessity  either  be  chosen  by  the  officials  or 
people,  or  some  one  would  seize  the  throne  through 
success  or  intrigue ;  but  the  latter  alternative  precludes, 
almost,  the  possibility  of  a  peaceful  change.  It  would 
be  almost  inevitable  that  such  a  revolution  is  to  be  a 
bloody  one  and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising  that  when 
a  dynastic  change  is  mentioned  the  best  Chinese  look 
grave  and  are  inclined  to  endorse  the  opinion  of  Chang 
Chih-Tung,  "China's  greatest  Viceroy,"  himself  a  true 
Chinese,  who  stands  firmly  for  the  support  of  the  reign- 
ing dynasty.  But  should  the  choice  of  a  new  line  be 
the  expression  of  the  popular  wish,  what  is  that  but  a 
form  of  republic?  And  for  such  a  government,  even 
the  most  enthusiastic  of  China's  friends  are  not  yet 
prepared;  while  the  suggestion  itself  comes  from  those 
only  who  are  stamped  as  over-zealous  by  natives  and 
foreigners  alike.     Imperialism  in  China  has  almost  been 


154  THE     COMING     CHINA 

more  a  name  than  a  reality,  and  not  one  of  the  dynastic 
changes  has  been  accomplished  without  the  shedding 
of  rivers  of  blood;  and  the  leading  Chinese  are  now 
strongly  for  internal  peace.  External  peace,  then,  they 
must  have  for  many  years  to  come,  if  the  faint  track 
toward  national  greatness  which  has  been  merely  blazed 
out  becomes  a  broad  road  leading  to  a  newer  form  of 
greatness  than  China  has  ever  before  attained;  but  one 
which,  indubitably,  her  past  record  has  shown  she  is 
thoroughly  competent  to  tread. 

The  wonderful  shrewdness  of  the  late  Empress  Dow- 
ager showed  itself  in  many  ways ;  all  of  them  indicating 
a  desire  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  dynasty. with 
which  she  was  allied,  and  yet  an  equal  desire  to  help 
the  forward  movement  of  Great  China.  This  was  —  it 
hardly  need  be  said  —  after  her  temporary  aberration 
connected  with  the  Boxer  uprising  and  the  influence 
upon  her  of  Prince  Tuan's  cry  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
foreigners.  For  this  strange  reaction  even,  we  can 
almost  find  extenuating  circumstances  when  we  recall 
that  between  November  i,  1897,  and  April  16,  1898, 
Germany,  Russia,  France,  and  England  had  taken  from 
China,  because  of  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii's  weakness,  the 
four  best  ports,  probably,  in  China:  Kiaochou,  Port 
Arthur,  Tonquin,  and  Weihaiwei.  When  Her  Majesty 
was  preparing  for  her  coup  d^etat,  she  displayed  states- 
manship worthy  of  the  shrewdest  masculine  head  in  any 
country  of  the  world;  one  single  example  is  sufficient  to 
illustrate.  When  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  heard  that  the 
extreme  conservative  members  of  the  government  were 
complaining  to  his  aunt  of  what  the  "boy  Emperor" 


DYNASTIC    CHANGE  155 

was  doing,  he  summoned  Yuan  Shih-kai  to  the  palace 
and  then  ordered  him  to  return  to  Tientsin,  his  head- 
quarters, dispose  of  (that  is,  kill)  Governor-General 
Jung  Lu,  an  obstructionist  in  the  Emperor's  opinion,  and 
then  bring  his  (Yuan's)  army  corps  to  Peking,  surround 
the  summer  palace,  and  thus  make  his  aunt  a  prisoner. 
But  the  Empress  Dowager  had  known  too  well  what 
she  was  about  when  she  put  Yuan  Shih-kai,  a  known 
Liberal,  and  a  Chinese,  at  the  head  of  the  army  and  made 
Jung  Lu,  a  Manchu,  his  superior  civil  officer,  without 
whose  authority  Yuan  himself  could  not  move.  Of 
course,  Kuang  Hsii's  plans  were  promptly  made  known 
to  the  Empress  Dowager.  She  had  already  scented  danger 
and  had  prepared  for  all  possible  contingencies:  Li 
Himg-Chang  she  had  appointed  Viceroy  of  Kuang  Tung; 
Yuan  Shih-kai,  governor  of  Shantung  and  the  head  of 
the  army;  Tuan  Fang,  governor  of  Shensi;  Liu  Kun-Yi, 
Chang  Chih-tung,  and  Kuei  Chun  were  kept  readily 
available,  and  thus  Her  Majesty  had  the  greatest  men  of 
all  shades  of  political  opinion  in  her  service.  How  she 
planned  the  final  moves  of  her  famous  coup  d'etat  is 
another  story.  When  once  recovered  from  her  unfor- 
tunate defection,  she  rapidly  made  amends,  and  if  a 
change  now  comes  and  the  dynasty,  of  which  she  was 
unquestionably  the  most  remarkable  member,  goes  down, 
it  will  not  be  because  the  late  Empress  Dowager  did  not 
try  to  strengthen  the  position  of  her  house  in  China 
itself  and  to  raise  it  out  of  the  mire,  in  foreigners'  opin- 
ion, into  which  it  was  for  a  time  sinking.  Whether  she 
alone  is  responsible  for  the  choice  of  Prince  Chun  to  be 
Regent  for  the  young,  reigning  Emperor,  or  whether 


156  THE     COMING     CHINA 

this  was  the  result  of  combined  judgment,  does  not 
matter  in  the  least;  the  Prince  is  a  man  who  has  had  an 
opportunity  to  see  something  of  the  world  beyond  the 
borders  of  his  own  land,  for  he  was  sent  to  Germany  to 
convey  the  apologies  of  the  Chinese  Government  to 
Emperor  WilHam  after  the  murder  of  Baron  von  Kettler. 
He  is  a  brother  of  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  and,  being  him- 
self progressive,  he  will  undoubtedly  have  the  support  of 
the  Reform  party,  and  because  he  was  approved  of  by 
the  Great  Empress  Dowager,  if  not  actually  selected  by 
her,  he  should  command  the  respect  of  those  who  were 
staunchest  in  their  allegiance  to  her.  It  is  certain  that 
in  Peking  to-day  there  is  little  left  of  that  old  spirit  of 
opposition  to  all  things  progressive;  not  one  of  the  real 
leaders  would  now  turn  back  to  China  as  it  was  a  cen- 
tury ago,  even  if  he  were  assured  there  would  be  no 
objectionable  "Foreign  Devils"  knocking  persistently 
at  the  door;  and  it  is  true  that  China  has  entered  upon  a 
new  course  from  which  no  one  in  the  land  itself  or  any- 
where else  would  have  her  turn  back.  It  seems,  how- 
ever, almost  impossible  for  the  maximum  of  good  to  be 
achieved  so  long  as  there  is  on  the  Dragon  throne  a 
representative  of  a  race  of  alien  conquerors  whom  the 
true  Chinese  have  always  despised;  the  feehng  which 
asserted  itself  so  successfully  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
when  the  Mongols  were  expelled,  is  precisely  the  same 
as  that  which  has  existed  ever  since  the  return  of  the 
usurpers  in  1644  —  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Eastern  Manchus  are  sprung  from  the  same  stock  as 
the  Western  or  Northern  Mongols;  indeed,  it  is  declared 
by  some  that  in  1368,  when  the  Chinese  succeeded  in 


DYNASTIC     CHANGE  157 

defeating  the  Mongol  army  and  driving  out  the  whole 
lot  of  them,  a  good  many  fled  eastward  and  established 
themselves  in  Manchuria,  and  that  it  is  from  this  stock 
the  Manchu  invaders  came  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Yet,  admitting  all  this,  there  still  persists  the  unanswer- 
able question:  Will  there  be  a  change  of  dynasty,  and  if 
so,  will  there  be  a  new  Chinese  dynasty;  or  will  there 
be  an  attempt  to  inaugurate  a  representative  form  of 
government,  approximating  a  republic  in  form  if  not 
bearing  that  name?  To  only  one  part  of  this  question 
is  it  safe  to  hazard  an  answer :  China  is  not  yet  prepared 
to  become  a  repubhc. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Japan  is  alleged  to 
have  ofifered  to  supply  China  with  an  emperor;  to  have 
signified  that  the  head  of  one  of  the  collateral,  cadet 
branches  of  Japan's  Imperial  house  be  placed  upon  the 
throne  of  China.  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  this 
subject  fully  because  it  comes  in  the  chapter  which  will 
be  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  Japan's  present  influ- 
ence upon  China;  only  it  may  be  said  that  the  suggestion 
cannot  be  entertained  for  a  moment  by  any  Chinese 
leaders,  since  to  accept  it  would  mean  to  make  China 
merely  an  appanage  of  Japan,  and  this  could  not  be  tol- 
erated. If  the  apparent  feeling  in  China  is  in  the  least 
sincere,  and  there  is  a  wish  to  do  away  with  all  sem- 
blance of  foreign  rule,  such  a  change  would  be  simply 
inoperative.  Japan's  suggestion  may  be  passed  with  a 
smile  at  the  complaisant  condescension  it  betokens,  and 
a  note  of  protest  against  its  arrogance;  for,  if  the  Chinese 
dislike  the  idea  of  being  ruled  by  Manchus,  they  would 
not  tolerate  the  rule  of  those  whom  they  cordially  hate. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ENTRANCE   OF    THE    UNITED  STATES    INTO 
THE   FAR    EASTERN    ARENA 

THE  fashion  of  going  to  wonderful  old  China  to  dis- 
cover pretty  nearly  everything,  from  gunpowder 
and  the  mariner's  compass  to  motor  cars  and  aeroplanes, 
has  been  faithfully  followed  in  the  matter  of  America; 
for  a  Httle  book,  "Fusang,"  tells  of  the  discovery  of  the 
far-distant  Eastern  continent  by  some  Chinese  Buddhist 
priests  at  a  remote  date  which  corresponds  with  the 
fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era.  That  was,  probably, 
during  the  time  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  (the  House  of  Liu) ; 
and  the  claim  may  not  be  so  ridiculous  as  it  seems 
to  be  at  first  glance;  certainly  there  is  enough  truth  in 
it  to  make  the  ever- jealous  Japanese  dispute  with  the 
Chinese  the  honour  of  this  discovery.  At  any  rate,  some 
ethnologists  pretend  to  have  found  certain  points  of 
resemblance  between  peoples  and  institutions  which 
suggest  intercourse;  and  the  learned  writer  of  the  article 
"America"  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  says:  "To 
us  it  appears  most  probable  that  the  legislators  of  Peru 
were  either  Chinese  or  persons  who  had  received  at 
second  hand  a  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  institutions  of 
China;  and  our  opinion  is  grounded  on  traits  of  the  two 
nations,  which,  in  our  opinion,  are  too  numerous,  striking, 

iS8 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES       159 

and  peculiar  to  be  the  effect  of  chance."  But  this  ex- 
cursion into  the  reahns  of  what  is  very  like  romance 
has  little  bearing  upon  "The  Coming  China."  It  is, 
however,  quite  certain  that  in  the  most  natural  way  the 
Chinese  knew  of  this  continent  long  before  they  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  travellers  from  the  new  nation,  the 
United  States  of  America,  towards  the  end  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

As  has  been  said  here,  and  the  statement  is  confirmed 
by  all  observers  and  unprejudiced  writers  about  China, 
the  impression  made  by  the  newcomers  in  1784  was  a 
favourable  one,  and  the  intercourse  then  established  was 
maintained  with  satisfaction  on  both  sides,  and  with 
exceptionally  Httle  friction  —  the  peculiar  circumstances 
being  duly  considered.  Trading  operations  grew  in  vol- 
ume until  after  the  breaking  out  of  our  Civil  War,  1861 
-1865,  when  there  came  the  almost  complete  disappear- 
ance of  our  flag  from  the  ocean;  this  fact  was  commented 
upon  by  the  Chinese,  who  naturally  thought  that  it 
meant  an  actual  diminution  of  trade  between  themselves 
and  Americans,  until  they  were  enlightened  as  to  true 
conditions,  learning  that  American  merchants  in  China 
could  export  and  import  in  ships  of  other  nations  practi- 
cally as  well  as  in  American  vessels. 

But  what  went  further  towards  creating  a  friendly 
feeHng  among  the  Chinese  for  Americans,  was  the  gener- 
ous way  in  which  our  earliest  representatives  and,  for 
the  most  part,  our  commercial  men  behaved  towards 
themselves.  Our  government  promptly  refused  to  take 
any  part  in  the  punitive  measures  which,  doubtless  after 
serious  provocation  and  reasonable  consideration  of  their 


l6o  THE     COMING     CHINA 

grievances,  some  of  the  European  Powers  undertook 
against  China;  while  our  merchants,  as  has  been  shown, 
declared  that  they  were  amenable  to  Chinese  law,  be- 
cause they  were  on  Chinese  soil  by  their  own  act,  without 
invitation  and  without  any  assurance  of  exemption  from 
punishment  or  extraordinary  protection  at  any  time. 
These  conditions  were  dispelled,  or  seriously  shaken,  at 
least,  by  subsequent  acts  of  what  the  Chinese  people 
justly  considered  unfair  discrimination  against  them- 
selves; but  even  this  matter  was  so  explained  to  the 
Chinese  Government  as  to  satisfy  it  of  our  continued 
good-will  as  a  nation;  and,  while  that  explanation  was 
sufficient  in  the  opinion  of  the  people  themselves  to 
place  the  responsibility  where  it  belonged,  it  should 
always  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Chinese  Government 
never  did  give  its  official  consent  to  the  indiscriminate 
emigration  of  its  subjects;  nor  did  it  ever  approve  of 
Chinese  cooUes  going  abroad  in  large  numbers. 

It  seems  rather  strange  that  the  Chinese  had  given 
so  little  attention  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  as  they  had 
done  prior  to  the  seizing  of  the  Archipelago  by  the  Span- 
iards in  1543,  when  Admiral  Legazpi  effected  a  very  easy 
conquest.  The  Chinese  had  evinced  no  marked  indisposi- 
tion to  go  far  away  from  home  across  the  seas,  partly 
for  maritime  commerce,  but  also  on  piratical  venture, 
it  is  to  be  feared;  for  the  notions  of  international  law 
and  the  rights  of  others  were  exceedingly  hazy  in  those 
days;  might  was  always  right,  it  would  seem.  We  hear 
of  the  Chinese  being  in  the  Moluccas  when  the  Europeans 
first  visited  those  Islands  after  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
had  been  conquered;  but  they  appear  to  have  given 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES       l6l 

little  thought  to  intercourse  with  the  Filipinos  until 
after  the  Spaniards  had  established  themselves  in  the 
Islands  and  founded  the  city  of  Manila.     The  Spaniards 
had  not  been  long  in  possession,  however,  before  they 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Chinese,  who  at  first  went 
to  the  Philippines  as  traders.     The  first  of  these  carried 
back  such  favourable  accounts  of  the  possibiHties  of  large 
profits,  through  catering  to  the  wants  of  the  Europeans, 
that  a  great  many  merchants,  artisans,  gardeners,  and 
labourers  went  there,  until  their  number  had  so  increased 
as  to  throw  the  Spaniards  into  a  panic,  who,  upon  a  most 
flimsy  pretext,  turned  upon  the  inoffensive  Chinese  and 
slaughtered  them  mercilessly.     This  brutal  act  and  a 
repetition  thereof  some  years  later  have  already  been 
mentioned;  but  it  should  be  noted  here  that  had  certain 
Chinese  mandarins  who  visited  Manila  in  1602  been  less 
secretive  as  to  the  object  of  what  they  alleged  was  a 
mission  from  their  Emperor,  the  suspicions  of  the  Span- 
iards might  not  have  been  aroused  to  the  pitch  they  were. 
However,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  in  the  end  the  Span- 
iards were  themselves  the  greatest  sufferers,  for  their 
own  acts  very  nearly  caused  the  ruin  of  the  Island 
capital,  Manila,  and  operated  as  a  serious  bar  to  the 
development  of  commercial  and  industrial  intercourse. 
In  the  official  reports  made  by  the  Chinese  Imperial 
Maritime  Customs,  from  the  date  when  Europeans  took 
charge  of  this  service,  in  the  year  1853,  and  statistics 
first  became  available,  until  the  transfer  of  the  Archi- 
pelago to  the  United  States,  in  1898  —  forty-five  years 
—  the  amount  of  trade  between  the  Chinese  and  the 
neighbouring  Spanish  possessions  was  never  great,  and 


l62  THE     COMING     CHINA 

was  almost  wholly  in  articles  of  personal  use  and  adorn- 
ment; the  Chinese  in  the  Islands,  as  is  the  custom  of  these 
exclusive  people  all  the  world  over,  drew  supplies  of  food 
even,  from  the  home  land;  the  Spaniards  imported  silk 
and  the  like.  Altogether,  the  trade  never  did  attain 
very  great  dimensions,  even  after  the  colony  of  Euro- 
peans had  greatly  increased  in  size;  for  there  was  always 
a  lurking  dread  in  the  Chinese  mind  that  there  might  at 
any  time  be  a  recurrence  of  the  sanguinary  deeds  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  When  the  Islands 
were  transferred  to  the  United  States  in  1898,  probably 
the  largest  item  in  the  list  of  imports  into  China  was 
Manila  cigars,  always  immensely  popular  with  the 
Americans  and  Europeans  in  China  and  Japan  from  the 
time  when  they  were  first  obtainable.* 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  war  was  declared  by 
the  United  States  against  Spain  in  1898,  the  small  fleet 
of  American  men-of-war,  transports,  colliers,  etc.,  under 
Commodore  Dewey  was  in  Hongkong  harbour.  We 
may  safely  assume  that  he  was  fitting  out  his  ships  for 
what  was  then  felt  to  be  an  inevitable  conflict;  but  as 
soon  as  Great  Britain  had  given  notice  of  her  neutraUty, 
it  became  incumbent  upon  the  colonial  authorities  to 
compel  Commodore  Dewey  either  to  dismantle  his  ships 
or  to  withdraw  from  the  port.  He  did  the  latter,  but 
inasmuch  as  his  preparations  were  not  yet  completed, 
he  went  to  Mirs  -Bay,  just  beyond  Great  Britain's  juris- 
diction up  the  coast  of  China,  and  from  that  place  even- 

*  For  interesting  and  accurate  information  concerning  the  intercourse 
between  China  and  the  PhiUppines  in  pre-American  days,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  "The  PhiHppine  Islands,"  Blair  and  Robertson,  which  con- 
tains the  Spaniards'  views  and  fairly  complete  statistics. 


ENTRANCE     OF    UNITED     STATES       163 

tually  took  his  departure  in  obedience  to  the  instructions 
from  our  navy  department  to  destroy  the  Spanish  fleet 
in  Philippine  waters.  It  has  always  been  suspected 
that  the  British  authorities  at  Hongkong  refused 
deliberately  to  see  what  was  going  on  at  Mirs  Bay, 
because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Conmiodore  Dewey  kept 
up  communication  with  the  city;  and  we  may  also  more 
than  suspect  that  the  Chinese  Government,  which  must 
have  been  informed  of  the  Commodore's  proceedings, 
with  similar  deliberation  turned  its  back  and  refused  to 
take  cognizance,  for  had  there  been  a  keen  desire  on  the 
latter's  part  to  preserve  a  strict  neutrality,  it  would  have 
been  necessary  for  China  to  serve  the  same  notice  upon 
the  belligerent  American  war-ships  as  to  being  in  Mirs 
Bay  as  Great  Britain  had  done  at  Hongkong.  That 
no  such  thing  was  done  may  not  necessarily  indicate  a 
friendly  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  authorities 
to  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  Americans  against 
the  Spaniards,  and  not  to  place  in  their  way  an  obstacle 
which  would  have  been  simply  insurmountable,  because 
to  have  finished  coaling  in  the  China  Sea,  three  marine 
leagues  off  shore,  and  to  have  made  the  fleet  ready  for 
an  engagement,  were  things  which  could  not  have  been 
done  at  that  time;  but  it  was  certainly  very  convenient 
indifference  for  Americans. 

It  is,  of  course,  incorrect  to  assume  that  China  then 
even  suspected  the  United  States  of  an  intention  to 
supplant  Spain  in  the  Philippines;  to  do  so  would  have 
been  to  go  just  opposite  to  what  China  was  justified 
in  accepting  as  a  declaration  of  America's  poHcy  in 
opposing  all  over-seas  expansion;  but  it  is  not  impossible 


l64  THE    COMING    CHINA 

that  China  did  scent  in  the  coming  conflict  what  to  her 
seemed  to  be  a  salutary  lesson  for  those  who,  in  the  past, 
had  displayed  anything  but  friendliness  for  her  nationals. 
The  opportunity  then  afforded  to  display  good-will 
towards  the  United  States,  should  never  be  forgotten, 
although  it  has  too  frequently  been  treated  as  a  matter 
of  trifling  importance.  When  the  war  between  Spain 
and  America  ended  with  the  former  utterly  routed,  the 
Chinese  were  most  favourably  impressed  by  the  magna- 
nimity of  the  United  States  in  not  seizing  the  Philippines 
outright,  as  a  prize  of  war,  which  incontestably  it  might 
have  done,  but  was  willing  to  buy  them  for  the  enormous 
sum  of  twenty-five  million  doUars,  American  gold,  not  the 
cheap  Mexican  dollars  current  in  the  Far  East,  then 
worth  only  about  forty  cents  in  our  money.  The  Chinese 
gave  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  newcomers.  The  word 
now  indicating  to  them  something  more  tangible  than 
it  had  done  a  century  before,  when  these  people  from  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Flowery  Flag  had  followed  the  commer- 
cial adventurers  from  Europe,  so  soon  after  having 
established  their  own  independence. 

That  welcome  was  thoroughly  sincere,  as  a  matter  of 
sentiment;  because  the  Chinese  Government  had  never 
had  any  reason  to  doubt  the  friendliness  of  our  own;  and 
it  was  assumed  that  if  there  were  American  officials  so 
close  to  their  own  shores  as  just  across  the  narrow  sea, 
which  separates  Luzon  from  the  China  coast,  it  would 
necessarily  mean  a  closer  acquaintance  on  our  part  with 
events  in  the  Far  East  than  had  ever  been  known  before, 
and  the  comforting  assurance  of  ha\dng  a  good  friend 
where  the  hand  could  be  laid  upon  him  in  case  of  need. 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES       165 

Among  the  common  people  there  was  rejoicing,  in  fact, 
because  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  there  would  be  no 
opposition  raised  to  Chinese  merchants  and  labourers 
going  to  the  Islands  in  unlimited  numbers;  and  this 
privilege  was  granted  for  some  time,  or  until  the  opposi- 
tion which  found  expression  in  the  exclusion  bills,  passed 
by  Congress  at  the  command  of  Pacific  Coast  White 
Labour  Societies,  had  gained  a  place  in  the  Island  posses- 
sions. The  restrictions  placed  upon  the  immigration, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  PhiUppines,  have  not  been  so 
strictly  enforced  at  Manila  and  other  ports  of  entry  in 
the  Archipelago  as  in  the  United  States  proper,  and  con- 
sequently there  are  proportionately  many  more  Chinese 
there  than  in  the  States;  a  fact  that  has  contributed 
much  to  the  comforts  of  life  in  those  of  our  colonial 
possessions,  and  has  also  brought  satisfaction  to  the 
privileged  Chinese. 

While  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  thirteen  years  ago 
there  were  fewer  Chinese  statesmen  and  pubhcists  who 
gave  attention  to  such  a  question  as  the  influence  which 
the  United  States  in  the  Philippines  was  likely  to  exert 
than  there  are  to-day,  yet  the  expressions  of  satisfaction 
made  in  the  native  journals  —  then  already  coming  to 
be  somewhat  of  an  important  factor  in  the  daily  life  of 
the  Northern  Chinese  especially  —  and  translated  by 
the  Enghsh  papers,  or  for  transmission  to  this  country 
as  material  for  information,  were  emphatic  and  had  a 
ring  of  sincerity  about  them  which  was  pleasing.  This 
statement  about  Northern  China  does  not  mean  that 
there  was  less  satisfaction  in  the  south,  or  that  there 
was  less  expression  of  this  contented  feeling  there  than 


l66  THE    COMING    CHINA 

in  the  north;  it  merely  indicates  that  there  are  fewer 
Chinese  newspapers  in  that  part  of  the  country;  also 
it  shows,  what  is  perfectly  natural,  that  the  reformers 
and  those  who  would  be  likely  to  give  expression  to  such 
sentiments,  or  the  reverse  if  they  existed,  would  naturally 
be  found  near  the  capital  and  the  centres  of  Chinese 
progressive  thought.     In  passing,  it  may  be  noted  that 
the  general  tone  of  the  English  press  in  China  was  one 
of  welcome,  although  —  as  was  quite  to  be  expected  — 
there  were  many  sly  allusions  to  the  breach  made  delib- 
erately by  ourselves  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  some- 
times there  was  a  tartness  about  these  which  was  not 
entirely  unwarranted;  in  journals  printed  in  other  than 
the  English  language,  these  expressions  had  a  severe 
tone  that  was  quite  to  be  looked  for.    Japan,  of  course, 
resented   our   intrusion,   although   the   conventions   of 
diplomatic  etiquette  forbade  the  expression  of  anything 
of  the  sort  in  journals  that  were  in  even  a  remote  way 
connected  with  the  government;  something  of  the  feel- 
ings of  many  Japanese  may  be  gathered  from  various 
communications  translated  from  the  leading  journals 
of  Tokyo  at  that  time;  there  were  expressions  to  the 
effect  that  it  might  become  necessary  for  Japan  to  give 
the  United  States  a  lesson  in  manners  and  to  show  her 
that  it  was  notpoHte  to  intrude  where  she  was  not  wanted, 
also  that  it  was  quite  time  for  the  United  States  to 
understand  that  "what  is  sauce  for  the  goose  is  sauce 
for  the  gander,"  and  if  there  was  to  be  a  Monroe  Doctrine 
in  America  there  would  have  to  be  something  of  the  same 
sort,  vis-d-vis  the  United  States,  in  the  Far  East. 
The  first  Protestant  Christian  missionary  to  China 


ENTRANCE  OF  UNITED  STATES   167 

was  the  Rev.  Robert  Morrison,  of  Morpeth,  England, 
who  was  sent  out  by  the  London  Missionary  Society. 
Because  of  some  difficulty  in  getting  passage  direct  — 
so  far  as  we  may  use  the  expression  apropos  of  that  time, 
because  "direct"  meant  by  ships  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  —  Morrison  came  to  New  York  and  then 
took  vessel,  arriving  at  Canton  in  September,  1807.  An 
amusing  allegation  is  that  no  European  ship  would  at 
that  time  carry  so  foolish  and  dangerous  a  cargo  as  a 
Gk)spel  Light-bearer,  and  his  impedimenta  of  evangelistic 
literature  as  it  was  assumed  this  missionary  would  take 
with  him.  The  American  Protestant  missionaries  did 
not  enter  the  Chinese  field  until  1830,  nearly  fifty  years 
after  the  first  trading  venture  had  been  made,  when 
the  Rev.  E.  C.  Bridgman  was  sent  out  by  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  To  those  who  are  not 
directly  connected  with  missionary  enterprise  but  who 
are  heartily  in  favour  of  Christian  propaganda  and  sym- 
pathetic with  evangelistic  methods,  it  has  always  seemed 
a  serious  misfortune  that,  by  treaty  stipulation,  the 
legalized  importation  of  opium  —  which  the  Chinese 
had  tried  so  hard  to  keep  out  of  their  country  —  and 
the  permission  to  teach  Christianity  without  prejudice 
to  either  propagandist  or  convert,  should  have  been  linked 
together.  To  ourselves,  perhaps,  the  connection  is  not 
of  vital  importance,  but  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese, 
especially  those  who  have  had  Httle  opportunity  to  know 
the  sincerity  of  the  Christian  missionary's  opposition 
to  the  bringing  in  and  sale  of  the  accursed  stuff,  it  is 
difficult  to  recognize  the  teaching  of  some  foreigners 
with  the  practice  of  others.    Yet  the  sincerity  of  the 


l68  THE    COMING    CHINA 

missionary  has  gone  a  great  way  in  strengthening  the 
feeling  of  gratitude  for  disinterested  effort  when  prejudice 
has  not  blinded  or  conflicting  influence  destroyed  the 
good  effort;  and  in  this  connection  it  is  well  to  make 
a  frank  confession  which  must  be  admitted  to  reflect 
somewhat  seriously  upon  the  Christian  missions  in 
China.  When  first  the  Chinese  were  compelled  by 
superior  force  at  arms  to  grant  residential  rights  to 
foreigners,  the  native  plenipotentiary  expressly  stipulated 
that  there  should  be  no  distinction  in  the  matter  of 
nationality,  all  should  be  treated  alike,  and  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  the  "most  favoured  nation"  clause  that 
crept  into  the  treaties  later.  At  that  time,  too,  the 
right  to  teach  Christianity  had  not  been  granted;  what- 
ever was  done  in  that  way  was,  strictly  speaking,  sur- 
reptitious; consequently  missionaries  —  if  they  were  in 
China  —  were  just  the  same  as  any  other  foreigners, 
hampered  by  the  same  restrictions,  granted  just  the 
same  privileges  only.  To-day  no  foreigner  has  the  right 
to  travel  freely  in  the  interior  of  China,  without  a  pass- 
port, or  to  reside  off  the  "foreign  concessions"  at  the 
treaty-ports,  except  missionaries.  Why  this  distinction, 
or  preference?  The  answer  is  an  interesting  bit  of  his- 
tory; when  the  French  representatives  were  preparing 
their  treaty  —  one  of  four,  that  is,  with  Russia,  the 
United  States  of  America,  Great  Britain,  and  France, 
at  Tientsin  in  1858  —  it  was  stipulated  that  the  Chinese 
(jovemment  restore  and  repair  the  Roman  Catholic 
mission  property  which  had  been  destroyed,  damaged, 
or  sequestered.  The  French  Minister  did  not  understand 
the  Chinese  language,  and  therefore  he  had  entrusted  the 


ENTRANCE     OF    UNITED     STATES       169 

wording  of  the  Chinese  version  of  the  treaty  entirely  to 
his  interpreter,  a  thorough  Chinese  scholar  and,  almost 
as  a  matter  of  course,  it  hardly  need  be  said,  a  zealous 
Roman  Catholic  missionary.  This  subordinate  diplomat 
insisted  upon  incorporating  two  additional  clauses  which 
had  not  been  originally  contemplated;  one  was  that 
Christians  —  to  be  sure,  that  meant  in  his  mind  the 
Roman  Catholics  only  —  should  have  the  right  to 
practise  and  preach  their  religion  freely  in  aU  parts  of 
the  empire  without  molestation,  be  they  foreigners  or 
natives:  the  other  surreptitious  clause  was  that  French 
missionaries  should  have  the  right  to  rent  land  in  all 
provinces  of  the  empire  and  in  any  part  of  those  prov- 
inces, to  build  houses  wherever  they  chose  to  do  so, 
to  travel  freely  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land,  and  to  reside  wherever  they  liked.  The 
Chinese  ambassadors  were  then  in  no  position  to  contest 
this  sweeping  demand,  and  when  "this  pious  fraud" 
was  discovered,  the  French  ambassador  very  generously 
decided  that  he  would  not  humiliate  the  good  priest  by 
exposing  his  deceit  to  the  Chinese,  and  then  either  gain 
their  consent  before  signing  the  treaty  (and  this  would 
have  been  an  exceedingly  difficult  thing  to  do)  or  expunge 
the  undiscussed  additions;  so  the  treaty  as  thus  expanded 
was  declared  to  be  the  French  demand  and  there  was 
no  alternative  for  the  Chinese  but  to  acquiesce  and  affix 
their  signatures.  Americans  and  all  other  peoples  profit 
by  this  deception  because  of  that  "most  favoured  nation 
clause"  and  our  missionaries  can  go  all  over  China  as 
they  like,  and  do  things  that  are  denied  the  rest  of  us, 
whether  we  are  merchants  or  tourists.    The  Chinese, 


lyo  THE    COMING    CHINA 

SO  far  as  we  Americans  are  concerned,  bore  us  no  ill-will 
for  taking  advantage  of  this  opportunity,  although  many 
of  the  best  of  them  unhesitatingly  aver  that  to  their 
minds  it  was  an  act  which  does  not  conform  to  what 
they  have  been  led  to  assume  were  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Christianity;  they  say,  with  Confucius, 
"Do  not  do  unto  others  what  you  would  not  have  others 
do  to  you."  In  this  particular  instance,  the  Chinese 
version  of  the  Golden  Rule  is  more  apposite  than  the 
positive  form  in  the  New  Testament. 

With  the  advent  of  the  United  States  into  the  Far 
Eastern  arena,  the  relations  of  the  two  peoples  have 
become  more  friendly  than  ever  before.  The  word 
"friendly"  is  here  used  with  certain  limitations;  for  in 
its  strict  sense  it  can  hardly  yet  be  applied  to  the  inter- 
course between  the  Chinese  and  any  other  people,  not 
excepting  even  the  Japanese,  with  whom  they  must  be 
reckoned  as  being  ethnically  related.  The  expansion  of 
our  enterprises  in  the  Philippines  has  brought  about  an 
astonishing  increase  in  the  number  of  Americans  who 
travel  along  the  China  Coast  and,  many  of  them  at  any 
rate,  find  their  way  into  the  interior;  it  is  not  always 
fortunate  for  the  people  of  China  that  these  travellers 
gather  impressions  at  treaty-ports,  and  such  who  do  this 
only,  neither  gain  in  wider  view  nor  add  to  the  kindly 
interest  of  the  Chinese.  China  is  not  an  attractive  coun- 
try for  the  tourist;  her  best  friends  will  not  object  to 
that  statement.  To  one  who  reaches  the  China  Coast 
towns  after  having  passed  through  India  and  the  Straits 
Settlements,  conditions  are  not  so  bad,  perhaps,  as  they 
might  be,  although  even  when  compared  with  those 


ENTRANCE    OF    UNITED     STATES       171 

places,  China  suffers;  but  to  one  who  first  gains  his 
impressions  of  the  Far  East  from  a  visit  to  Japan,  where 
there  is  at  least  a  semblance  of  cleanliness;  where  there 
is  within  easy  reach  most  charming  scenery,  hill,  valley, 
lake,  seashore,  the  stench,  the  squalor,  the  obtrusive 
wretchedness  of  China  are  truly  discouraging.  As  to 
the  inherent  politeness  of  the  two  peoples,  although 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  statements  of  so  many, 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  award  the  palm  to  the  Chinese; 
mannerisms,  rules  of  etiquette,  insincere  protestations, 
do  not  make  poHteness.  The  stolid  indifference  of  the 
Chinese  is  rarely  rude;  indeed  we  affirm  that  our  experi- 
ence recalls  but  few  instances  of  deliberate  rudeness  from 
Chinese,  while  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  Japanese. 
Until  less  than  twenty  years  ago,  there  had  been  much 
of  the  Shy  lock  in  the  Chinese  character;  he  was  willing 
to  buy  from  us  and  sell  to  us  —  not  anxious  to  eat  with 
us  and,  speaking  of  him  as  representing  his  whole  nation, 
violently  opposed  to  praying  with  us.  If  there  was  a 
business  transaction  to  carry  out,  it  was  approached 
with  a  promptness  that  was  refreshing  and  indicative 
of  sincerity;  there  were  no  preliminary  feasts  with  geisha 
attendants;  in  a  few  minutes  a  decision  was  made  and 
that  decision  was,  other  things  being  equal,  final.  There 
is  no  substantial  change  in  business  methods  now,  but 
there  is  a  very  great  and  pleasing  change  in  the  deport- 
ment of  the  Chinese  —  outside  of  their  offices  and  after 
the  cares  and  duties  of  the  day  have  been  set  aside,  there 
is  now  plenty  of  friendly  intercourse.  We  can  hardly 
call  it  social  intercourse,  because  that  word  properly 
connotes  to  us  the  commingUng  of  sexes  in  our  society, 


172  THE    COMING    CHINA 

a  thing  unknown  and  abhorrent  in  China  as  yet,  and 
not  likely  to  develop  rapidly  in  that  soil. 

In  diplomatic  matters  a  competent  authority  has  said 
that  the  frankness  and  limpid  sincerity  of  the  American 
Ministers  was,  for  a  long  time,  something  inexpHcable 
to  the  Chinese  statesmen  in  the  early  days  of  our  inter- 
course. There  was  really  so  little  for  our  representatives 
to  do  along  these  devious  and  bewildering  lines  that 
there  was  nothing  which  could  be  identified  as  American 
diplomacy;  and  the  demands  of  the  British,  later  joined 
by  the  French,  were  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the 
natives,  whose  conception  of  the  art  of  government  and 
of  treaty  was  based  upon  the  simple,  straightforward 
methods  of  such  men  as  Tai  Tsong,  of  whom  Mailla 
speaks  so  highly.  That  strangers,  even  from  such  a 
distance  as  Western  Europe,  should  wish  to  come  as 
tribute  bearers  to  the  Ruler  of  Great  China  and  should 
seek  permission  to  engage  in  trade  with  the  people  of 
his  coimtry,  was  something  quite  intelligible  and  alto- 
gether natural;  but  that  those  same  "barbarians" 
should  demand  these  things  as  a  right,  and  should  add 
to  that  demand  another  to  the  effect  that  the  Chinese 
Ruler  must  acknowledge  them  as  representatives  of 
emperors  and  kings  fully  equal  in  rank,  dignity,  and 
power  with  the  Son  of  Heaven,  who  must  receive  and 
treat  them  accordingly,  was  something  incredible.  Such 
was  not  the  tone  taken  by  our  representatives.  It  is 
true  that  we  asserted  and  sustained  our  right  to  be 
received  as  equals,  refused  to  kaotao,  and  insisted  upon 
sharing  the  benefits  which  the  Europeans'  course  of 
procedure  had  wrung  from  the  unwilling  Chinese;  but 


ENTRANCE    OF    UNITED     STATES       173 

they  themselves  had  come  very  near  estabKshing  a  prece- 
dent when  Kiying,  Governor- General  of  Nanking  and 
treaty  commissioner,  declared  that  all  foreigners  should 
share  alike  in  whatever  benefits  the  treaties  conferred  in 
business,  religion,  residence,  or  privilege.  Therefore  we 
entered  upon  our  relations  with  less  embarrassment  than 
others;  we  established  and  pursued  a  more  liberal  course 
than  some  others,  and  when  the  time  came  for  us  to  sit 
down  as  a  neighbour  of  China,  we  were  cordially  wel- 
comed. It  cannot  be  said  that  there  has  never  been 
any  friction  in  our  diplomatic  relations,  because  the  Chi- 
nese Government  has,  at  times,  expressed  dissatisfaction 
with  our  treatment  of  Chinese  subjects;  stiU  this  has 
never  been  of  an  alarming  nature,  because  that  govern- 
ment from  the  earhest  times  has  taken  the  stand  that  if 
a  subject  saw  fit  to  leave  his  native  country,  he  did  so 
at  his  own  risk,  expatriated  himself,  and  forfeited  the 
protection  of  his  Emperor.  This  position,  reaffirmed  in 
several  instances  —  notably  that  of  certain  Chinese  who 
long  ago  died  in  French  territory  and  whose  bodies  were 
denied  the  right  of  return — made  it  less  difficult  for  us 
to  secure  a  sort  of  official  recognition  of  our  right  to  put 
in  force  the  exclusion  Bills.  One  statement  may  be  of 
interest  to  readers  who  are  not  familiar  with  diplomatic 
conditions:  our  position  at  Peking  has  sometimes  suf- 
fered a  little  because  of  our  unwillingness  to  surround 
it  with  the  pomp  and  dignity  which  other  governments 
give  to  their  legation.  For  a  long  time  we  refused  to 
own  our  legation  and  other  official  residences,  we  did 
not  supply  a  staff  commensurate  with  our  dignity,  we 
did  not  sanction  the  wearing  of  Court  dress  or  embelHsh- 


174  THE     COMING    CHINA 

ment  of  any  kind;  our  Minister  and  his  secretary  of 
legation  were  notoriously  underpaid,  as  compared  with 
the  salaries  and  emoluments  suppUed  to  the  representa- 
tives of  other  Powers,  and  there  was  never  any  provision 
made  for  the  perfunctory,  official  entertainments.  These 
matters  may  seem  of  trifling  importance  to  many;  and 
when  applied  to  any  countries  except  China  and  Japan 
would  be  so,  because  in  all  the  courts  of  Europe  the 
ruler  and  the  statesmen  look  past  the  person  of  the  am- 
bassador or  minister  to  that  which  he  represents;  whereas 
in  China  and  Japan  it  is  foolishly  true  that  the  gold 
lace,  the  equipage,  the  pretentious  edifice,  and  the 
numerous  staff  do  exert  considerable  influence. 

In  matters  of  trade  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  and 
against  the  way  the  Chinese  accepted  us  as  newcomers 
with  proprietary  rights  in  the  Far  East.  In  their  own 
land  they  are  still  controlled  as  to  customs  revenue  by 
the  conventions  and  treaties  of  long  ago.  With  but  few 
exceptions  the  maximum  duty  levied  on  imports  is  five 
per  cent.  Knowing  that  our  views  on  tariff  exactions 
were  widely  different  from  what  they  were  allowed  to  do 
in  their  own  case  —  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  they 
will  let  this  matter  remain  unadjusted  should  they  ever 
regain  tariff  autonomy  —  it  was  but  natural  that  the 
Chinese  should  expect  from  us  something  of  sympathy 
in  this  particular  matter  —  possibly  consideration  in 
the  Philippines  because  of  their  own  helpless  condition 
at  home.  Needless  to  say  they  have  been  disappointed. 
Again,  it  was  but  natural  for  the  Chinese  to  expect  us 
to  adapt  ourselves  to  conditions  existing  in  the  Far  East 
and  beyond  our  power  to  alter,  even  if  we  had  the  desire 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES       175 

to  do  so;  being  now  a  part  of  the  Orient,  an  expansion 
of  trade  comes  almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  This 
expansion  most  properly  should  extend  to  the  Chinese 
markets  because  the  going  to  and  fro  of  merchants  would 
familiarize  them  with  the  requirements  of  their  Chinese 
neighbours,  and,  in  a  way,  the  expectation  has  been  real- 
ized; yet  the  lessons  which  others  have  taken  seriously 
to  heart  and  by  which  they  have  profited,  are  too  often 
ignored  by  the  American  merchant  who,  notwithstanding 
this,  thinks  his  share  in  the  China  trade  is  not  what  it 
ought  to  be.  The  reason  is  not  difficult  to  find;  the 
expansion  of  his  operations,  which  success  in  exploiting 
the  Chinese  business  might  bring  to  the  typical  American 
manufacturer  and  merchant,  is  too  often  looked  upon  as 
an  ornamental  appanage,  not  as  a  fundamental  feature 
of  his  legitimate  business.  Having  a  large  market  at 
home  to  supply  and  having  the  most  ample  facilities 
for  reaching  almost  every  nook  and  comer  of  his  own 
land,  he  prepares  his  products  in  that  way  which  suits 
his  own  ideas  of  packing  and  shipping.  If  his  case  or 
his  bale  satisfies  the  Chinese  methods  of  carriage,  well 
and  good;  he  will  fill  orders  as  fast  as  they  are  received, 
always,  however,  giving  precedence  to  his  home  and 
regular  customers.  It  seems  to  be  no  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can manufacturer's  duty  to  send  his  agents  right  away 
into  the  heart  of  China,  there  to  study  the  language  so 
that  he  may  deal  direct  with  native  purchasers,  ascertain 
just  how  the  things  to  be  sold  should  be  packed  to  suit 
the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  case,  and  what  deviation 
from  estabHshed  form  may  stimulate  consumption;  as 
a  consequence  there  is  less  expansion  of  our  trade  than 


176  THE    COMING    CHINA 

there  might  be;  because  our  European  competitors  are 
pursuing  precisely  that  line  of  tactics  which,  it  has  been 
more  than  intimated  here,  will  and  do  ensure  expansion 
and  great  results.  When  contemplating  this  phase  of 
their  feeling  towards  the  newcomers,  ourselves,  the 
Chinese  are  too  often  dissatisfied,  and  one  reason  for  this 
brings  back  a  topic  that  was  briefly  touched  upon  in  the 
Introduction  to  this  book. 

In  commenting  upon  business  methods  of  the  Far 
East  a  number  of  authors  of  books,  writers  of  magazine 
articles,  and  newspaper  correspondents  have  referred 
to  the  lordly  "Taipan"  as  conducting  all  his  operations 
through  his  "Compradore"  and  entrusting  to  his 
*'  Shroff  "  the  entire  duty  of  receiving  and  disbursing  cash 
—  some  going  so  far  as  to  let  this  latter  native  employee 
deposit  his  surplus  receipts  at  the  end  of  the  day  to  the 
credit  of  the  firm's  accoimt  in  bank.  The  system,  and  it 
is  here  made  to  include  both  Compradore  and  Shroff,  is  a 
pernicious  one  which  began  centuries  ago  because  then 
the  merchants  had  no  special  desire  or  incentive  to  learn 
the  Chinese  language,  and  it  has  been  kept  up  ever  since, 
largely  because  of  sheer  laziness  which  prevents  a  change, 
and  a  feeling  that  the  time  given  to  the  study  of  the 
language  can  be  spent  more  pleasantly  and  more  profita- 
bly (that  is,  selfish  profit)  in  the  club,  on  the  river,  at 
the  race  course,  or  anywhere  else  that  health-gi\nng 
exercises  may  be  had  or  health-sapping  dissipation  pur- 
sued. The  Chinese  themselves  despise  this  phase  of  tha 
foreign  business  which  necessitates  the  Compradore  and 
Shroff;  the  merchants  always  have  done  so,  when  they 
have  not  had  a  command  of  colloquial  English  or  a 


ENTRANCE  OF  UNITED  STATES   I77 

smattering  of  that  atrocious  "Pidgin  EngKsh"  which  is 
the  lingim  franca  of  the  treaty-ports  of  China.  To-day- 
very  few  of  the  leading  native  merchants  trouble  them- 
selves to  learn  English,  because  they  are  discouraged 
from  doing  so  by  the  Compradore  of  the  American  or 
English  house  who  wishes  to  keep  the  control  of  business 
in  his  own  hands  as  much  as  possible;  and  this,  of  course, 
means  an  illegitimate  commission  for  those  native  em- 
ployees in  some  way.  Those  merchants,  for  a  longtime, 
rather  preferred  not  to  have  any  personal  dealings  with 
the  foreigners;  they  knew  nothing  of  each  other's  ways; 
there  was  an  offensive  air  of  patronizing  superiority 
about  the  foreigner  that  the  native  properly  resented. 
That  air  still  breathes  in  far  too  many  American  and 
European  "hong"  offices;  but  it  is  not  nearly  so  notice- 
able in  the  German  commercial  estabHshments.  Nowa- 
days, the  average  Chinese  merchant  would  like  nothing 
better  than  to  extend  the  time  given  to  his  purely  buying 
or  selling  transactions,  with  a  little  conversation  about 
business  affairs  in  the  West;  the  kind  that  expands  the 
horizons  of  both  participants,  not  the  senseless  gossip 
that  often  wastes  time  and  brings  no  good  results.  That 
so  few  American  merchants  can  speak  Chinese,  much, 
very  much,  less  read  it,  and  that  so  many  Germans  can 
do  both,  is  probably  a  greater  reason  than  all  others  for 
the  expansion  of  Germany's  trade  in  the  Far  East;  and 
the  disappearance  of  the  Compradore  or  Shroff  from 
some  of  the  German  offices,  or  the  abridgment  of  his 
duties  to  the  possible  minimum,  is  another  reason  for  it. 
If  American  merchants  would  insist  upon  every  new 
clerk  taking  a  thorough  course  in  Chinese,  vernacular 


178  THE    COMING    CHINA 

and  written,  for  from  two  to  three  years,  and  then  require 
him  to  keep  up  his  practice  so  that  in  a  short  time  the 
coming  Taipans  may  be  able  to  negotiate  direct  with 
their  customers,  eUminating  the  Compradore,  it  would 
go  a  great  way  towards  deepening  the  friendly  feeHng 
that  the  Chinese  have  for  us.  There  is  among  them, 
as  among  all  Asiatics  (the  few  "swell-head"  Japanese 
excepted),  a  feeling,  firmly  based  upon  experience,  that 
there  is  more  disposition  among  Americans  to  let  them 
have  a  fair  chance  to  get  along  in  the  world  than  some 
other  nations  show  them;  and  it  will  be  our  own  fault 
entirely  if  this  feeling  does  not  increase;  only  it  is  depend- 
ing mainly  upon  ourselves  to  decide  how  this  shall  be 
brought  about,  and  it  is  our  personal  conviction  that  our 
financiers,  industrialists,  and  merchants  who  go  to  China 
must  do  more  with  the  language.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
one  of  the  most  difficult  to  learn  —  perhaps  it  would  be 
nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  all  Americans  who  have  not 
tried,  are  convinced  that  it  is  the  most  difficult,  but  this 
is  not  so.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  much  easier  to  learn 
to  speak  Chinese  well  than  it  is  to  do  the  same  thing 
with  the  Japanese  language.  Where  there  is  one  Ameri- 
can who  can  talk  freely  with  a  Japanese  upon  any  subject, 
and  carry  on  a  general  conversation  that  switches  from 
one  topic  to  another  —  just  as  we  go  from  one  thing  to 
another  as  we  chat  with  an  acquaintance  —  there  are 
a  score  who  speak  Chinese  so  well  as  to  be  mistaken  for 
a  native,  if  they  cannot  be  seen.  With  Chinese  the 
difficulty  comes  at  the  very  first  —  to  catch  the  intona- 
tion, to  divide  up  the  torrent  of  sound  which  pours 
from  Chinese  lips  into  the  component  parts;  after  that 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES      179 

difl&culty  disappears,  because  the  locution  is  regular 
and  the  grammatical  construction  simplicity  itself. 
With  Japanese  there  is  no  initial  difl&culty,  the  spoken 
language,  is  so  vocalic  as  to  seem  alluringly  simple,  but 
the  trouble  soon  begins  and  never  is  wholly  overcome; 
locution  is  as  varying  as  is  the  topic,  grammar  is  as  whim- 
sical as  is  the  nature  of  those  who  speak  this  language, 
and  the  good  Francis  Xavier  was  quite  correct  when  he 
avowed  that  the  Japanese  language  was  an  invention  of 
the  Evil  One. 

The  effect  upon  China  of  our  entrance  into  the  Far 
Eastern  arena  has  been  a  good  one;  for  the  doubtful 
friendship  of  the  Spaniards  has  been  substituted  a  con- 
fidence and  sympathy  that  are  inspiring;  instead  of  sloth 
has  come  activity;  instead  of  oppression  has  come  en- 
couragement; and  an  example  of  oppression,  which  had 
sunk  deep  in  the  Chinese  mind,  has  been  replaced  with 
one  that  encouraged  those  people  to  claim  their  place 
among  the  Powers,  to  be  again  the  first  in  the  Far 
East  and  to  be  not  only  in  the  world  but  of  it.  The 
linking  up  of  West  and  East  —  the  neighbourliness  of 
the  youngest,  strongest,  and  wealthiest  nation  with  the 
oldest  and  (for  a  time,  certainly)  the  weakest,  has  brought 
much  of  hope  to  the  Chinese  and  they  look  to  us  to 
"make  good."  If  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  to  be  the  centre 
around  which  are  to  be  the  greatest  of  the  world's  popu- 
lation, commerce,  wealth,  and  power,  it  is  likely  to  be 
the  arena  where  the  great  issues  of  the  future  will  settle 
forever  the  questions  of  free  institutions  or  the  supremacy 
of  free  man.  That  America  now  occupies  important 
territory  on  both  sides  of  this  arena,  with  possession  of 


l8o  THE    COMING    CHINA 

the  "Key  of  the  Pacific,"  i.e.  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  is 
not  in  our  opinion  a  mere  accident,  and  the  thoughtful 
Chinese  statesmen,  the  open-eyed  pubhcist,  and  the 
aspiring  captains  of  industry  accept  this  theory  without, 
as  yet,  showing  a  spark  of  jealousy.  It  was  a  mistake, 
in  our  opinion,  for  the  United  States  ever  to  take  up  the 
burden  of  managing  the  Philippines,  but  the  mistake 
does  not  now  justify  our  abandoning  the  task  to  which 
we  put  our  hands.  We  are  in  the  archipelago  to  stay 
until  we  are  convinced  ourselves,  and  have  demonstrated 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  we  have  educated  the  native 
population  to  the  point  where  they  can  be  entrusted 
with  the  solemn  duty  of  governing  themselves  and  taking 
their  place  in  the  comity  of  nations.  It  is  a  tremendous 
task,  for  —  with  many  other  difficulties  —  it  presents 
the  supremest  one  of  welding  into  a  homogeneous  mass 
a  number  of  imits  that  are  so  dissimilar  as  the  peoples, 
tribes,  and  sub-tribes  of  the  Philippine  Archipelago. 
China,  just  across  the  narrow  sea,  looks  on  with  sympathy 
and  yet  with  confidence.  She,  too,  has  her  task  to  per- 
form; institutions  of  hoary  antiquity  must  either  be 
thrown  down  altogether  or  so  remodelled  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  New  China  as  to  be  unrecognizable; 
there  must  be  either  a  blending  of  peoples  into  a  closer 
union  than  has  ever  yet  been,  or  a  separation  which  will 
bring  results  that  cannot  now  be  even  vaguely  surmised. 
China  expects  our  sympathy  and  our  support  and  the 
expectation  must  not  be  disappointed. 

The  attitude  which  China  has  always  assumed  towards 
her  smaller  and  less  powerful  neighbours  is  somewhat 
analogous  to  our  own  Monroe  Doctrine,  a  certain  domin- 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES      l8l 

ion  has  been  claimed,  a  moral  superiority  asserted,  and 
a  right  of  control,  which  could  be  exercised  or  evaded 
at  her  own  pleasure,  has  been  insisted  upon.  But  our 
Monroe  Doctrine  had  always  been  brought  forward  in  a 
way  which  seemed  to  have  been  deliberately  controverted 
by  America's  assuming  possession  of  the  Philippines. 
After  warning  off  European  Powers  from  the  American 
continent,  to  establish  a  sphere  of  influence  by  right  of 
possession  through  purchase  in  the  extreme  East,  was 
astonishing.  There  was  no  thought  of  resenting  the 
seeming  stultification;  the  coming  was  welcomed,  the 
experiment  watched  with  the  keenest  interest.  The 
United  States,  from  the  outset,  declared  its  intention  to 
maintain  supervisory  rights  in  the  spirit  of  brotherhood, 
not  as  harsh  conquerors.  When  the  impatient  Filipinos 
resented  an  attempt  at  government  and  demanded 
absolute  independence  forthwith,  without  any  pretence 
at  recompensation,  the  firmness  of  our  government  in 
suppressing  the  insurrection  met  with  approval  among 
the  Chinese.  Since  the  progress  of  education  and  civili- 
zation has  been  uninterrupted,  it  is  but  natural  that 
China  has  felt  disposed  to  look  for  sympathy  in  her 
effort  at  progress  and,  if  it  is  to  be,  reorganization  which 
may  lead  to  independence.  This  does  not  imply  any 
disposition  to  lend  assistance  to  the  violent  extremists 
in  China,  those  semi-anarchists  who  would  overthrow 
without  being  competent  to  set  up;  while  we  are  more 
firmly  convinced  than  ever  of  the  success  and  permanency 
of  our  own  institutions,  our  forms  of  government,  central 
and  state,  our  independent  democracy,  there  has  never 
been  any  disposition  on  our  part  to  incite  revolution  in 


l82  THE    COMING    CHINA 

countries  where  established  monarchy  has  been  reason- 
able and  just;  nor  have  we  ever  encouraged  revolution 
even  where  the  absolute  monarch  has  been  oppressive. 
We  were  not  responsible  at  all  for  the  outbreaking  of  the 
French  Revolution;  nor  for  the  Cuban  Revolt.  Our 
government  must  not  be  made  to  stand  responsible  for 
the  acts  of  individuals  or  even  poUtical  parties;  it  has 
always  given  support  to  organized  government  elsewhere. 
Therefore  it  was  not  we  who  brought  about  the  Spanish- 
American  War  and  the  consequent  displacing  of  Spanish 
Government  in  the  Philippines;  yet  when  the  Fates 
decreed  that  we  should  take  Spain's  place  we  did  so  in 
our  own  way  and  that  way  has  been  absorbingly  interest- 
ing to  many  Chinese.  Possibly  there  may  be  Chinese 
who  are  reasoning  that  if  the  experiment  which  we  are 
making  in  the  Philippines  results  satisfactorily  in  qualify- 
ing the  Filipinos  for  absolute  independence,  it  will  not 
be  unreasonable  for  us  to  render  assistance  to  a  revolu- 
tionary party  in  China,  which  aims  at  a  republic  instead 
of  the  Imperial  form  that  has  existed  so  long.  The 
reasoning,  if  it  exists,  may  not  be  altogether  illogical, 
because  the  civilization  of  China  has  been  quite  suffi- 
ciently permanent  to  forbid  comparison  with  the  develop- 
ment in  the  Philippines,  prior  to  1898  —  for  Spain's 
effort,  beyond  a  very  trifling  success  in  evangelization, 
is  a  negligible  quantity.  Besides,  the  feeble,  tentative 
experiments  of  the  Chinese  at  local  government,  if  not 
successful  in  appreciable  measure,  have  suggested  a 
capacity  for  republican  institutions  which  might,  if 
properly  fostered,  be  brought  up  to  a  standard  which 
would  make  for  permanency  and  good.     During  the  past 


ENTRANCE     OF     UNITED     STATES      183 

ten  years  such  radicals  as  Kang  Yu-wei  was,  have  ex- 
pressed gratification  at  the  proximity  of  American  repub- 
lican institutions  as  offering  encouragement  to  their 
ambitions  and  as  being  a  good  object  lesson  for  the  people 
of  China.  This  is  extremely  visionary,  to  be  sure,  but 
it  is  one  of  the  phases  of  China's  contemplation  of  the 
United  States'  incursion  into  Asiatic  regions. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  it  will  be  interesting  and 
instructive  to  give  some  information  condensed  from 
the  observations  of  Mr.  John  Foreman,  who  has  lived 
long  in  the  Philippines,  and  has  known  conditions  there, 
both  under  Spanish  jurisdiction  and  since  the  United 
States  acquired  possession.  Under  Spanish  rules,  the 
Chinese  were  very  different  from  the  often  troublesome 
coolie  of  such  semi-foreign  places  as  Hongkong  or 
Singapore.  "In  Manila,  he  was  drilled  past  docihty  — 
in  six  months  he  became  even  fawning,  cringing,  and 
servile,  until  goaded  into  open  rebellion.  Whatever 
position  he  might  attain  to,  he  was  never  addressed  (as 
in  the  British  colonies)  as  *Mr.,'  or  'Esqre.,'  or  the 

equivalent,   'Senor  D.';  but  always  'Chinaman * 

('  Chino ') . "   There  was  no  Chinese  consul  in  the  days 

of  Spain,  but  one  of  their  countrymen  was  a  sort  of  pro- 
tector or  dictator  during  the  last  decade  or  so  of  Spanish 
rule.  At  the  present  time  there  is  a  Chinese  consul 
whose  responsibilities  are  far  more  paternal  than  we  are 
accustomed  to  expect  in  such  officials;  he  has  taught  his 
nationals  that  their  position  is  much  improved  from  what 
it  was  imder  the  old  regime.  The  Chinese  now  bear 
themselves  with  a  pleasing  self-respect,  never  —  save 
in  those  individual  cases  which  find  their  parallel  in 


184  THE     COMING    CHINA 

every  country  and  among  all  classes  —  with  an  offensive 
equality  or  worse  superiority.  "They  mix  freely  with 
the  whites  in  public  places  with  an  air  of  social  equaHty, 
and  occupy  stalls  in  the  theatre  which  they  would  not 
have  dared  enter  in  pre-American  times.  The  Chinese 
chamber  of  commerce  is  also  of  recent  foundation,  and 
its  status  is  so  far  recognized  by  the  Americans  that  it 
was  invited  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  Internal  Revenue 
Bill."  The  Chinese  in  the  Philippines  greatly  ease  the 
diflSculties  of  solving  the  labour  problems,  for  no  one  has 
a  good  word  to  say  for  the  faithfulness,  diligence,  or 
reliabiUty  of  the  FiUpino;  and  if  the  Chinese  were  allowed 
free  entry,  they  would,  through  intermarriage  —  for  the 
Filipino  women  take  kindly  to  their  Chinese  lords  and 
masters  —  "perpetuate  the  smartest  pure  Oriental  mixed 
class  in  the  Islands."  If,  however,  their  exclusion  should 
be  maintained,  although  there  are  now  upwards  of  fifty 
thousand  in  the  whole  archipelago,  there  will  be  a 
markedly  adverse  effect  upon  many  lines  of  development. 
On  the  whole,  it  must  be  manifest  that  China  —  the 
government,  the  progressive  officials,  and  the  people 
at  large  —  looks  with  satisfaction  upon  the  entry  of  the 
United  States  into  the  Far  Eastern  arena. 


H 


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CHAPTER    VIII 

MISSIONARY   EFFORT   AS    A    FACTOR    IN    CHINA'S 
DEVELOPMENT* 

THE  Manichean  heresy  is  alleged  to  have  found  its 
way  into  China  about  the  year  276  a. d.,  but  this 
is  something  that  possesses  no  sufficient  interest  to  give 
space  to  its  consideration  here. 

If  we  were  to  discuss  the  topic  suggested  by  the  title 
of  this  chapter  in  its  fullest  sense,  we  should,  of  course, 
include  the  efforts  of  Jews,  Buddhists,  Moslems,  and 
all  other  representatives  of  foreign  faith  who  sought 
to  convert  the  Chinese  from  their  native  superstitions 
to  a  behef  in  the  doctrines  held  by  those  different  stran- 
gers themselves;  but  that  subject  passes  too  far  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  volume;  so,  also,  we  could  dwell  upon 
another  aspect  of  that  remarkable  power  of  assimila- 
tion which  has  been  noted.  There  are  certainly  some 
Mahommedans  still  in  China,  but  their  number  is  not 
now  comparable  with  what  it  was  at  one  time,  and 
their  tenets  have  almost  succumbed  to  the  influence 
of  surroundings;  and  the  Jews,  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  conspicuous  for  their  absolute  invulnerable  alle- 

*  For  some  of  the  facts  upon  which  the  story  of  the  new  educational 
scheme  is  based,  the  writer  has  drawn  upon  "China  and  America  To- 
day," Smith;  "Changing  China,"  Cecil;  "The  Educational  Conquest  of 
China,"  Stothill. 

i8S 


l86  THE     COMING    CHINA 

giance  to  their  doctrines,  have  simply  disappeared  in 
the  assimilation  of  the  Chinese;  they  have  sold  their 
sacred  scriptures  and  their  synagogues,  and  with  only 
a  sad  memory  of  a  long,  silent  struggle,  the  Jews  in  the 
Chinese  Empire  are  at  the  point  of  extinction. 

As  to  the  very  first  effort  of  Christian  missionaries 
to  carry  the  knowledge  of  their  God  and  the  teachings 
of  His  Son  to  the  people  of  China,  we  cannot  go  wrong 
if  we  accept  the  statement  of  Williams.  It  cannot 
now  be  proved,  nor  so  far  as  we  can  see  can  it  be  abso- 
lutely disproved,  that  the  apostle  Thomas  was  the 
first  to  impart  to  the  Chinese  a  knowledge  of  Christian- 
ity. Whether  the  legend  connected  with  Emperor 
Ming-ti's  dream  and  the  prophecy  of  Confucius  be 
accepted  as  relating  to  a  rumour  about  the  new  religion 
of  Christ,  or  not,  is  not  of  much  importance;  yet,  con- 
vinced as  we  are  that  at  the  time  of  Christ's  life  and 
teachings  the  Chinese  were  having  intercourse  with 
the  people  of  the  extreme  southwestern  parts  of  Asia, 
including  the  Holy  Land,  it  seems  entirely  reasonable 
to  assume  that  they  did  hear  of  the  faith  which  was 
certainly  stirring  up  the  peoples  all  around  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Mediterranean.  Arnobius,  300  a.d.,  speaks 
of  the  Christian  deeds  done  in  India,  and  among  the 
Seres,  Persians,  and  Medes;  these  Seres  were,  of  course, 
the  people  of  the  silk-producing  country,  that  is,  China. 

By  all  authorities  it  is  said  that  the  Nestorian  mis- 
sionaries arrived  in  China  very  early  in  the  sixth  century 
of  our  era,  probably  in  505  a.d.  The  "Nestorian 
Tablet"  at  Si-ngan  fu,  a  city  in  Shensi  province,  is  con- 
sidered authentic,  and  the  date  affixed  thereto,  corre- 


china's   development  187 

spending  to  781  a.d.,  is  accepted  as  genuine.  The  text 
of  the  tablet,  which  was  discovered  in  1625,  is  a  lengthy 
eulogium  of  "The  Illustrious  Religion  in  China,"  and 
its  matter  indicates  that  the  doctrine  had  been  preached 
for  many  years  before  the  tablet  was  prepared.  It 
furnishes  evidence  that  Christianity  had  made  great 
progress  in  China,  but  we  know  that  during  the  reign 
of  the  Yuen  (Mongol)  Dynasty  the  Nestorians  suffered 
much  and  were  eventually  driven  out;  although  the 
foreign  priests,  if  any  remained,  and  their  converts  had 
already  ceased  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

The  Roman  CathoHc  missionaries  began  active  work 
in  China  in  the  thirteenth  century,  although  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  individual  priests  had  made  their 
way  into  that  country  before  them.  The  first  attempt 
at  what  may  be  called  a  settled  mission  was  that  of  John 
of  Montecorvino,  sent  out  by  Pope  Nicholas  IV,  in 
1 288.  The  Nestorian  converts  opposed  these  newcomers, 
and  little  progress  was  made  for  some  years,  but  event- 
ually great  success  was  gained,  so  that  by  the  time  of 
Emperor  Jen  Tsung  (AyuH  Palapta  reigned  1312-1321) 
there  were  many  flourishing  Christian  communities  in 
Northern  China.  Then  there  appears  a  gap;  but  with 
the  sending  of  Matteo  Ricci,  in  1552,  began  the  second 
period  in  the  history  of  Romish  missions  in  China. 
The  Government  was  now  opposed  to  the  residence 
of  these  foreign  missionaries  and  to  their  teachings, 
but  the  Jesuits  were  not  expelled  until  17 24-1 73  2. 
The  missionaries  had,  however,  many  friends  in  the 
noble  and  influential  famihes,  and  certainly  accomplished 


l88  THE    COMING    CHINA 

much  in  their  propaganda;  the  consideration  of  their 
work  is  most  interesting  and  instructive,  yet  —  as  has 
been  the  case  in  other  mission  fields  —  the  quarrels 
between  sects  brought  the  whole  class  into  disrepute  and 
eventually  disaster;  the  persecution  which  followed 
upon  the  edict  for  their  expulsion  was  most  severe. 
In  material  matters,  the  influence  of  many  of  the  early 
Roman  Catholics  was  almost  wholly  for  good;  they  are 
properly  credited  with  having  taught  the  Chinese  many 
useful  things  about  science,  particularly  mathematics; 
but  Protestants  find  it  difficult  to  discover  really  salu- 
tary effects  from  their  religious  teachings. 

The  enthusiasm  and  zeal,  in  what  they  rightly  believed 
to  be  their  Master's  cause,  almost  naturally  led  the  first 
Protestant  missionaries  to  devote  themselves  more  or 
less  exclusively  to  dogmatic  Christian  propaganda. 
To  do  this  it  was,  of  course,  first  necessary  to  get  some 
command  of  the  language,  if  they  were  to  reach  the 
people,  and  to  this  object  Morrison,  the  eminent  pio- 
neer, gave  his  whole  attention  for  a  while.  He  was  so 
successful  that  before  long  he  was  employed  by  the 
East  India  Company  as  its  official  interpreter.  Odd  as 
it  may  seem  —  but  it  is  only  fair  to  give  even  the  devil 
his  due  —  this  Company  furnished  great  assistance 
to  the  missionaries,  although  it  was  all  the  time  work- 
ing most  assiduously,  and  all  too  effectively,  to  debauch 
the  people  of  China  by  smuggling  opium  and  encourag- 
ing the  natives,  in  direct  violation  of  their  country's 
laws,  to  increase  their  consumption  of  the  drug.  Al- 
though Morrison's  Chinese-English  dictionary  has  long 
since  been  superseded  by  others  that  are  more  compre- 


china's   development  189 

hensive,  more  acciirate,  and  more  satisfactory  in  every 
way,  yet  it  is  still  entitled  to  and  receives  the  respect- 
ful attention  of  every  Sinologue.  The  Literature  put  out 
by  the  earliest  Protestant  missionaries,  when  they  were 
so  far  advanced  in  their  linguistic  attainments  as  to 
be  able  to  supply  themselves  with  the  needed  printing 
apparatus,  was  almost  entirely  in  the  nature  of  tracts 
inveighing  against  the  pernicious  doctrines  which  they 
foimd  to  prevail;  translations  of  parts  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures —  the  New  Testament  portions  dealing  with  the 
life  of  Christ  and  the  founding  of  His  Church,  and 
expositions  of  the  superiority  of  their  creed.  All  this 
was  very  well  in  its  way,  but  ere  long  the  missionaries 
discovered  that  the  most  effective  form  of  procedure 
was  to  minister  to  the  physical  ailments  of  the  people 
in  the  best  way  that  medical  science  then  put  at  their 
disposal,  if  they  wished  to  reach  their  spiritual  wants 
satisfactorily.  Their  success,  nearly  a  hundred  years 
ago,  won  for  them  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  men 
of  all  classes;  even  the  mandarins,  who  were  zealously 
striving  to  curb  the  pretentious  demands  of  the  traders, 
speedily  came  to  differentiate  between  those  who  were 
determined  to  supply  opium  and  those  who  were  striv- 
ing to  ameliorate  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  suffering. 
Among  the  native  merchants  there  were  amazement  and 
incredulity;  they  were  disposed  to  render  every  assist- 
ance in  their  power  to  further  the  efforts  of  the  mission- 
ary doctors,  even  going  so  far  as  to  contribute  money 
towards  the  equipment  and  maintenance  of  hospitals, 
and  raising  no  objections  to  the  physicians'  efforts  to 
convert  their  patients;  but  with  all  this  there  was  a 


190  THE    COMING    CHINA 

strange  scepticism;  such  disinterestedness  was  something 
new  to  them  and  inexplicable,  from  their  point  of  view. 
Consequently,  we  find  that  the  very  men  who  were  giv- 
ing material  aid  were  at  the  same  time  employing  spies 
to  see  what  the  doctors  were  trying  to  do  that  must 
be  prejudicial  to  their  own  private  interests  or  harmful 
to  society  and  the  national  government.  In  Williams' 
"Middle  Kingdom"  there  are  several  translations  of 
letters  and  poems  from  those  who  had  themselves 
been  reUeved  by  the  foreign  doctors,  or  whose  relatives 
and  friends  had  been  cured  of  some  organic  weakness 
—  of  the  eyes,  especially  —  or  wasting  disease. 

It  was  a  very  long  time  before  any  of  the  Protestant 
missionaries  came  to  realize  properly  the  necessity  for 
pursuing  a  definite  course  in  their  efforts  to  teach  Chris- 
tianity and  one  quite  different  from  the  dogmatic  way 
that  has  been  concisely,  though  somewhat  roughly, 
expressed  thus:  "You  are  heathen.  You  have  no  true 
religion;  that  which  you  call  rehgion  is  but  a  snare  of  the 
Devil  to  lure  you  on  to  eternal  spiritual  damnation. 
Burn  your  idols,  tear  down  your  temples,  and  give  up 
your  evil  superstitions;  then  take  this  true  doctrine  I 
have  to  give  you,  and  be  saved."  But  the  time  came 
when  good  Christians  began  to  see  that  there  was  an- 
other and  a  better  way  to  carry  forward  their  work 
with  a  reasonable  assurance  of  success.  When  compara- 
tive religion  came  to  be  recognized  as  a  science,  and 
men  were  made  to  see  that  in  what  they  had  scornfully 
called  "the  heathen  religions"  there  might  be,  indeed, 
usually  is,  a  germ  of  truth  which  has  been  diverted  from 
true,  beneficent  development  by  improper  environment, 


Geometry  at  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai 


In  the  Science    Department,  St.  John's    University,  Shanghai 


china's  development  191 

by  superstition,  or  by  some  other  cause;  then  the  tone 
assumed  by  the  Christian  missionaries  —  not  only  in 
China,  but  all  the  world  over  —  underwent  a  change. 
Now  the  argument  was:  "You  have  been  taught  to 
believe  certain  statements  which  you  think  are  religious 
truths.  Have  these  always  satisfied  your  highest  spir- 
itual aspirations?  Has  not  your  Confucianism  given 
you  entire  confidence  that  your  paths  here  on  earth  are 
beset  by  evil  spirits?  Does  your  Buddhism  help  you 
to  look  upon  death  calmly  in  the  expectation  of  a  glori- 
ous hereafter,  if  you  have  tried  to  Hve  aright  and  accord- 
ing to  Buddha's  teachings?  Does  your  Taoism  really 
teach  you  anything  at  all?  We  shall  be  glad  to  listen 
to  all  you  have  to  say  in  support  of  your  religion;  pro- 
vided you  will  afterwards  also  listen  to  what  we  have 
to  say  of  the  reUgion  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  we  make  out 
a  stronger  case  for  our  religion  than  you  can  for  yours, 
will  you  not  agree  to  study  ours  carefully?" 

From  this,  it  was  but  natural  that  progress  should  go 
on  to  general  education.  To  qualify  a  man  clearly 
to  understand  and  sincerely  to  believe  the  truths  of 
the  Christian  religion,  he  must  of  necessity  know  some- 
thing of  the  world,  unless,  perchance,  he  has  been  born 
in  an  atmosphere  so  filled  with  that  faith  that  even  by 
the  most  ignorant  mentally  it  is  taken  as  a  matter  of 
course;  and  then  it  is  anything  but  satisfactory,  being 
conducive  to  bigotry.  Hence  into  the  mission  schools 
which  were  soon  established  came  courses  of  general 
education,  and  very  often  such  a  broadening  of  the 
conception  of  duty  as  led  the  principals  to  relieve 
their  pupils  from  obligation  to  take,  as  part  of  their  edu- 


192  THE     COMING     CHINA 

cation,  lessons  in  the  Bible  and  on  the  Christian  faith; 
leaving  these  more  or  less  to  the  option  of  the  pupil, 
yet  always  striving  to  exert  such  influence  by  precept  and 
practice  as  to  make  the  faith  for  which  the  teachers 
stood  attractive.  This  is  the  method  that  has  made 
the  efforts  of  Protestant  Christian  missionaries  in 
China  so  potent  a  factor  in  development  along  all  lines. 
Missionaries  are  only  human  beings,  after  all;  among  us 
Protestants  there  are  no  longer  saints  and  even  the 
blessed  ones  who  are  canonized  gained  their  saintship 
because  of  thoroughly  human  deeds  done  in  the  flesh. 
All  missionaries  are  not  perfect  examples  of  what  they 
profess  to  teach;  there  are  jealousies,  weaknesses  of  all 
kinds  among  them,  and  a  few  have  not  these  weaknesses 
under  control;  but  as  a  rule  the  Chinese  find  that  there 
is  a  consistency  among  the  Christian  missionaries;  that 
they  do  try  to  practise  what  they  preach.  Granting 
that  there  is  a  substratiun  of  truth  in  what  Sir  Robert 
Hart  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  supposititious  Chinese 
speaker  who  says  that  when  his  government  is  called 
upon  to  pay  indemnity  for  damage  done  to  mission  prop- 
erty, it  finds  itself,  to  its  amazement,  asked  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  would-be  millionaires;  it  is  manifest 
that  there  is  somewhat  of  hyperbole  about  this,  for,  as 
a  rule,  these  claims  have  not  been  more  than  is  needed 
to  restore  and  re-equip  the  missions.  For,  while  possibly 
complaining  of  the  amount  of  the  bills  for  damage  done 
by  mobs,  or  Boxers,  or  the  like  (we  pass  without  com- 
ment one  flagrant  exception  which  has  been  condemned 
by  all  save  most  of  the  people  of  that  country  which 
improperly  benefited  thereby),  that  very  same  govern- 


china's   development  193 

ment  has  called  upon  missionaries  to  take  the  lead  in 
organizing  its  own  public  educational  schemes. 

The  plan  of  the  late  Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  for  an  edu- 
cational system,  which  was  to  abandon  entirely  the  old 
methods  and  strike  out  upon  a  course  as  neariy  as  pos- 
sible parallel  with  that  of  schools  and  colleges  in  Amer- 
ica and  England,  was  magnificent  and,  but  for  the 
disastrous  coup  d'etat  of  the  Empress  Dowager,  would 
have  been  successfully  inaugurated  as  long  ago  as  1898. 
Although  Chang  Chih-tung  has  been  deservedly  called 
''China's  Greatest  Viceroy,"  it  cannot  be  forgotten  that 
it  was  his  teachings,  given  in  the  little  volume,  "  China's 
Only  Hope,"  that  has  already  been  mentioned,  which  in 
large  measure  brought  about  that  bloody  coup,  caused 
the  overthrow  of  the  enthusiastic  young  Emperor,  the 
decapitation  of  the  patriotic  members  of  the  Reform 
party,  and,  indirectly  perhaps,  the  ''Boxer  Insurrec- 
tion," Not  only  this,  but  the  "Clear  out  all  the  for- 
eigners" policy  advocated  by  Prince  Tuan,  and  which 
for  a  time  seemed  to  be  a  popular  slogan  throughout  the 
whole  of  China,  was  but  another  phase  of  the  ideas 
advocated  in  Chang  Chih-tung's  book.  This  influence 
and  its  resulting  movement  has,  in  great  measure  if  not 
wholly,  disappeared,  and  the  cry  of  "China  for  the 
Chinese"  assumes  a  different  aspect.  For  in  the  revived 
plan  for  the  Peking  University  the  assistance  and  co- 
operation of  foreigners,  including  missionaries,  were 
asked  for  by  the  Imperial  Government  and  granted 
with  good  results. 

We  cannot  possibly  give  credit  to  the  foreign  captains 
of  industry  or  the  merchants  from  America  and  Europe 


194  THE    COMING    CHINA 

for  all  the  success  that  has  been  achieved  in  establish- 
ing modern  schools  in  China,  although  we  cheerfully 
acknowledge  that  many  of  these  men  have  contributed 
generously  to  the  support  of  such  institutions  under 
mission  control.  Nor  is  it  right  to  say  that  the  results 
so  far  achieved  have  been  due  to  the  knowledge  gained 
by  the  commissions  sent  abroad  by  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment to  investigate  educational  systems  of  the  West. 
The  main  inspiration  has  been  the  mission  school  and 
the  methods  followed  there.  The  greatest  change 
that  has  as  yet  come  to  pass  in  China  was  the  definite 
aboHtion  of  the  old-style  examination  for  qualification 
to  enter  the  civil  service.  It  was  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager's edict  of  September,  1905,  which  brought  this 
about,  yet  we  know  her  action  was  only  the  giving  of 
effect  to  that  which  her  nephew  had  decided  upon  years 
before.  The  first  of  these  new  examinations,  that  are 
destined  to  cause  an  upheaval,  was  held  in  October, 
1906.  It  took  up  parts  of  two  days  (these  were  not 
consecutive,  however),  and  fifty- three  candidates  were 
examined  by  the  new  Board  of  Education  for  the  high- 
est degree  provided  in  the  Chinese  Civil  Service.  There 
was  no  restriction  as  to  rank,  age  (although  the  average 
was  about  twenty-four),  or  religious  belief.  Twenty- 
three  of  the  number  had  studied  in  Japanese  universities, 
colleges,  or  schools;  sixteen  had  been  in  the  United 
States;  two  in  England;  and  one  in  Germany.  Twelve 
of  the  candidates  were  given  first  rank,  and  with  the 
exception  of  one  who  had  studied  at  Trinity  Hall, 
England,  all  of  these  were  graduates  of  American  col- 
leges.   Three  questions  were  given  for  the  first  day's 


CHINAS     DEVELOPMENT  I95 

examination:  First,  Define  philosophy  and  distinguish 
it  from  science  and  ethics.  Explain  the  following 
systems  of  philosophical  thought:  Dualism,  Theism, 
Idealism,  Materialism,  Pantheism,  Agnosticism.  How 
would  you  classify,  according  to  Western  methods,  the 
following-named  Chinese  philosophers:  Chuang  Tzii, 
Chang  Tsai,  Chii  Tzii,  Lu  Tzii,  and  Wang  Yang-ming? 
Second,  Explain  why  philosophy  developed  earliest  in 
Greece.  What  are  the  leading  thoughts  in  the  teaching 
of  Heraclitus?  Why  will  his  system,  at  one  time  almost 
obsolete,  again  become  popular?  Third,  Expound 
fully  Mill's  four  methods  of  induction,  and  mention 
some  of  the  scientific  discoveries  and  inventions  which 
may  be  directly  traced  to  them.  On  the  second  day  of 
the  examination  the  theme  for  the  required  essay  was: 
Will  it  be  expedient  for  China  to  adopt  the  system  of 
compulsory  education? 

Compare  these  questions,  bearing  in  mind  that  exposi- 
tion, according  to  the  candidate's  own  views,  was  the 
one  thing  demanded,  and  that  identification,  by  chapter 
and  verse  as  one  might  say,  was  not  even  contemplated, 
with  this  "catch"  question  which  Williams  tells  us 
was  put  at  the  co-ordinate  examination  in  1853  (and  the 
same  sort  of  thing  was  done  right  down  into  the  twen- 
tieth century):  "He  acts  as  he  ought,  both  to  the  com- 
mon people  and  official  men,  receives  his  revenue  from 
heaven,  and  by  it  is  protected  and  highly  esteemed." 
Precise  identification  was  of  prime  importance  and  any 
variation  from  the  Kteral  text  of  the  original  had  to  be 
noted  to  secure  approval.  Or  compare  the  new  ques- 
tions with  these  which  were  considered   "practical": 


196  THE     COMING     CHINA 

"Fire-arms  began  with  the  use  of  rockets  in  the  Chau 
Dynasty;  in  what  books  do  we  first  meet  with  the  word 
for  'cannon'?  Is  the  defence  of  Kai-fung  fu  its  first 
recorded  use?  Kublai  Khan,  it  is  said,  obtained  can- 
non of  a  new  kind;  from  whom  did  he  obtain  them? 
When  the  Ming  emperors  in  the  reign  of  Yung  Loh 
invaded  Cochin  China,  they  obtained  a  kind  of  cannon 
called  the  weapon  of  the  gods;  can  you  give  an  account 
of  their  origin?"  It  at  once  becomes  manifest  that 
the  departure  from  the  old  system  is  a  veritable  right- 
about, and  the  consternation  caused  in  the  ranks  of 
the  conservative  literati  was  such  as  to  convince  them 
that  China  was  plunging  headlong  to  inevitable  ruin. 
No  longer  was  it  necessary  to  memorize  the  Confucian 
Classics;  the  pure  hterary  style  of  two  thousand  years 
was  wiped  out,  and  for  them  was  substituted  a  something 
new  with  which  China  had  formed  its  first  acquaint- 
ance in  the  mission  schools  of  recent  times. 

In  determining  the  attainments  of  those  who  were 
qualified  to  pass,  these  conditions  were  given  impor- 
tance in  the  order  named:  First,  the  foreign  university 
or  college  that  had  conferred  a  degree  on  the  candidate 
—  and  much  incisive  discrimination  was  shown;  second, 
the  character  and  scope  of  work  done  since  gradua- 
tion; third,  the  merit  of  the  examination  papers  them- 
selves. Those  who  were  marked  eighty  or  over,  out  of 
a  possible  one  hundred,  were  given  the  first  degree  (Chin 
Shih,  Member  of  the  Hanlin  College),  and  eight  were 
successful;  those  who  reached  seventy  obtained  a  first- 
class  second  degree  (Chu  jen) ;  those  who  reached  sixty, 
a  second  class  of  the  same  rank;  while  those  who  were 


CHINAS     DEVELOPMENT  I97 

marked  fifty  received  merely  a  certificate  that  they  had 
attended  the  examination.  The  candidates  were  al- 
lowed to  write  their  papers  either  in  Chinese  or  any  West- 
em  language  they  chose;  and  all  those  who  had  studied 
in  America  or  England  decided  to  use  English.  This 
permission  itself  shows,  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  suc- 
cessful men  (Dr.  W.  W.  Yen)  says  that  "at  last  the 
barriers  in  the  way  of  Western  knowledge  have  been  bat- 
tered down,  and  the  new  education  in  China  will  become 
something  real  and  thorough."  Contrary  to  all  previ- 
ous experience,  no  one  was  given  an  official  position 
simply  because  he  had  passed  the  examination,  no  mat- 
ter what  his  grading,  that  being  left  to  be  determined 
by  other  considerations.  This  wipes  out  the  supersti- 
tion that  every  man  able  to  satisfy  Hterary  examiners 
is  therefore  fitted  to  hold  ofl&ce  and  must  necessarily 
forthwith  be  provided  with  a  post  at  government 
expense. 

No  religious  test  whatever  was  apphed  to  the  candi- 
dates, and  what  was  most  important  of  all,  no  distinc- 
tion was  made  between  Christians  and  non-Christians. 
It  had  been  declared  for  many  years  that  this  freedom 
as  to  religion  had  obtained  at  these  hterary  examinations, 
and  perhaps  the  statement  was  true;  but  it  is  also  cer- 
tainly true  that  not  many  years  ago  the  professing  Chris- 
tian found  it  impossible  to  pass  any  but  the  very  lowest 
of  such  examinations,  and  that  even  in  that  grade  his 
religion  was  a  serious  obstacle.  Nine  of  the  success- 
ful candidates  were  Christians;  eight  were  Protestants, 
and  one  was  a  Roman  CathoHc;  and  if  all  those  are 
included  who  had  pursued  their  studies  in  Christian 


198  THE    COMING    CHINA 

institutions,  the  number  would  be  even  larger.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  all  save  some  of  those  who  had  studied 
in  Japan  had  been  under  Christian  influence.  That  the 
missionaries  in  China  may  claim  that  what  they  have 
done  along  educational  lines  formed  the  basis  upon 
which  this  new  superstructure  has  been,  or  is  to  be, 
raised,  can  hardly  be  denied.* 

What  a  marvellous  change  this  shows!  We  can  eas- 
ily recall  the  time  when  the  Chinese  who  knew  any- 
thing of  literature,  outside  that  of  his  own  Classics, 
was  a  phenomenon.  It  is  only  about  forty  years  ago, 
that  Yih,  the  Governor- General  of  the  two  Kuang  prov- 
inces, was  seized  by  the  British  when  they  captured 
the  city  of  Canton.  He  was  taken  on  board  a  man-of- 
war  and  carried  a  prisoner  and  hostage  to  Calcutta. 
On  the  long  voyage  his  apathy  and  idleness  led  one  of 
the  officers  to  ask  if  he  never  read  anything,  and  his 
reply  was  that  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  read,  be- 
cause the  contents  of  all  the  books  in  the  world  were 
already  "in  his  stomach."  Then,  about  the  same  time, 
or  a  little  earlier,  the  fact  that  a  Chinese  translation  of 
a  part  of  one  of  the  Gospels  was  found  among  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  captain  of  a  captured  war-junk  caused 
the  greatest  astonishment  to  his  countrymen. 

This  attempt  to  introduce  Western  learning  may  justly 

*  "  Among  those  who  took  degrees  at  this  examination  was  a  grad- 
uate of  an  American  Dental  College,  and  another  whose  forte  was 
engineering.  The  delicious  absurdity  of  bestowing  the  stately  title  of 
'  Entered  Scholar '  (Chin-shih)  upon  students  of  this  type  was  not  lost 
upon  the  reactionary  party.  Even  more  open  to  criticism  was  the 
entire  absence  of  any  requirements  as  to  attainments  in  the  native 
language  of  the  candidates,  one  of  whom,  according  to  Dr.  Yen,  could 
not  write  his  own  name  decently  in  Chinese! "     Smith,  op.  cit. 


CHINAS    DEVELOPMENT  199 

be  called  the  most  remarkable  and  decisive  intellectual 
revolution  in  the  history  of  mankind;  it  is  so,  whether 
we  think  of  it  as  casting  aside  the  precedence  of  twenty 
centuries  or  more  and  the  millions  whom  its  affects,  by 
making  the  pursuit  of  learning  a  joy  from  its  very 
beginning,  or  contemplate  the  future  results  when  the 
present  plans,  even,  are  carried  out  into  general  opera- 
tion. Even  in  this  beginning,  so  quickly  did  the  enthu- 
siasm take  possession  of  the  people,  that  absolute 
confusion  came.  It  was  impossible  for  missionaries, 
clergy  and  laity,  to  respond  to  the  calls  made  upon  them 
to  organize  schools,  to  make  out  courses  of  study  and 
schedules  of  lessons,  to  render  assistance  as  teachers 
in  private  or  prefectual  schools,  and  anybody  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  able  to  teach  was  plumped  into  the  master's 
chair.  Half-baked  Japanese  students,  with  the  merest 
smattering  of  Western  knowledge,  were  called  in  by  the 
hundreds,  while  many  more  came  of  their  own  motion, 
and  set  up  private  schools  that  were  worse  than  nothing. 
In  this  mad  rush  for  improved  educational  methods, 
as  in  some  other  respects,  the  old-time  teacher,  China, 
was  more  than  ready  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  her  for- 
mer pupil,  Japan;  but  quickly  the  superficiality  of  the 
would-be  teacher  was  detected,  and  if  there  seemed  to 
be  for  a  time  strong  probability  of  China  becoming 
wholly  Japanized,  that  soon  passed  away,  and  now  if 
competent  teachers  from  America  or  Europe  cannot  be 
had,  the  Chinese  are  content  to  wait  until  they  are  avail- 
able. The  normal  schools  —  or  the  institutions  which 
fill  the  same  place  as  the  normal  schools  do  in  our  scheme 
of  education  —  will  begin  to  supply  material  before  long 


2CXD  THE     COMING     CHINA 

and  the  Chinese  will  assert  themselves  in  educational 
matters  as  they  always  have  done  in  other  ways,  and  they 
will  come  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  as  they  are  abim- 
dantly  able  to  do. 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  department  of  education,  or  in 
the  study  of  Western  literature,  that  the  influence 
of  the  missionaries  has  been  exerted  for  good.  Probably 
the  best  instruction  they  have  received  has  been  in 
the  refinements  of  Western  civilization.  The  idea  of 
"home"  was  a  very  crude  one  in  the  Chinese  mind; 
the  position  of  woman  was  positively  degrading,  as 
must  be  the  case  when  Confucianism  and  Buddhism 
hold  sway;  but  read  the  chapter,  "The  Princesses  — 
Their  Schools,"  in  Headland's  "Court  Life  in  China," 
and  see  if  there  has  not  been  a  marked  improvement  at 
the  top  of  the  social  scale  during  the  last  ten  years  or 
so.  According  to  Chinese  notions  this  sort  of  thing 
always  begins  at  the  top  and  works  its  way  downwards 
and  outwards:  "When  the  upper  classes  are  really  vir- 
tuous, the  common  people  will  inevitably  become  so" 
is  their  way  of  expressing  the  conviction  that  reforms 
must  begin  in  the  social  superiors  and  extend  their  influ- 
ence downwards  to  the  inferiors.  Now,  perhaps,  it  is 
too  much  to  say  that  the  education,  which  the  Manchu 
princesses  and  the  Chinese  ladies  of  higher  rank  in  and 
near  the  Imperial  Court  are  acquiring,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  Western  etiquette,  which  gives  them  a  better 
position  than  they  had,  are  directly  the  effect  of  mis- 
sionary teaching;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  evinces 
an  imitation  of  that  which  the  Manchus  more  than  any 
others  disliked.     In  many  other  matters  the  influence 


Hill  Temple,  Amoy 


White  Stag  Temple,  Amoy 


china's    development  20I 

of  the  faithful  missionary  has  been  productive  of  good; 
it  is  something  to  know  that  many  Chinese  mothers 
who  were  never  accustomed  to  give  attention  to  sani- 
tation, personal  care  of  their  children,  and  many  other 
cognate  matters,  owe  the  first  suggestion  of  these  things 
to  the  direct  teaching  of  American  women  connected 
with  our  missions;  or  at  least  that  they  heard  of  them 
from  what  those  Western  mothers  do,  and  now  they 
themselves  pay  the  flattery  of  imitation. 

In  a  memorial  submitted  to  the  Emperor  in  1906  by 
Yuan  Shih-k'ai,  Governor-General  of  the  Province  of 
Chihli,  in  which  is  the  capital,  Peking,  and  which  there- 
fore is  necessarily  the  meeting-ground  of  inertia  and  pro- 
gress, ultra-conservatism  and  radicalism,  that  ofiicial  gave 
a  list  of  educational  institutions  within  his  jurisdiction 
that  were  all  conducted  according  to  Western  methods : 

The  Imperial  Pei  Yang  University  at  Tientsin. 

The  Higher  School  (College)  at  Pao-ting  fu ;  this  being 
organized  as  is  its  congener,  the  Koto  Gakko  (Higher 
Schools)  of  Japan.  These  schools  are  sometimes  called 
"High"  Schools;  but  that  is  not  strictly  correct;  they 
are  at  least  one  grade  in  advance  of  the  American  "High 
Schools,"  and  they  are  not  at  all  comparable  with  the 
German  "Hochschule."  They  are  essentially  collegiate 
in  their  organization  and  methods. 

The  Imperial  Army  Medical  College. 

The  Industrial  High  School  and  the  Agricultural 
High  Schools;  besides  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Pri- 
mary Schools  to  the  number  of  twenty-one. 

The  Telegraph  Higher  School  (College). 

The  School  of  Drawing  (Mechanical  and  Artistic). 


202  THE     COMING     CHINA 

The  Higher  Normal  Schools,  Ordinary  Normal  Schools, 
and  other  training  schools,  eighty-nine  in  number. 
This  arrangement  is  intended  to  provide  a  supply  of 
competent  native  teachers  for  all  parts  of  the  empire 
as  schools  are  opened  and  a  requisition  made  for  teachers : 
first,  for  the  primary  schools  of  general  course;  and, 
second,  for  the  advanced  schools  and  colleges  providing 
special  or  technical  courses. 

Middle  Schools,  twenty-seven:  a  grade  corresponding 
to  the  last  years  of  our  public  schools  and  our  grammar 
schools. 

Advanced  Schools,  coordinate  with  our  High  Schools, 
one  hundred  and  eighty-two  in  number. 

Primary  Schools,  four  thousand  one  hundred  and 
sixty- two. 

The  Women's  Normal  School. 

Girls'  Schools,  forty. 

Yamun-runners'  Schools,  fifteen.  The  Yamun  is 
the  official  residence  of  a  district  magistrate  (Tao-tai) 
and  his  messengers  (''runners,"  because  they  are  always 
assumed  to  be  sent  out  on  urgent  business  and  there- 
fore "to  run,"  which  they  usually  do  hterally).  It  is 
important  that  they  should  have  a  fair  education;  but 
this  school  contemplates  something  more  than  the 
rudiments  of  Chinese;  for  example,  something  of  EngKsh. 

There  are  two  kindergartens  in  Tientsin;  nineteen 
schools  giving  a  half -day  course,  of  these,  ten  are  offi- 
cial, and  nine  private;  fifteen  night  schools,  with  an 
average  of  two  teachers  and  twenty-five  pupils  each; 
one  Chinese-German  school;  one  school  for  the  secre- 
taries of  officials;  one  for  "domestic  servants,"  giving 


china's   development  203 

instruction  in  English  and  in  "foreign  ways";  one  com- 
mercial school;  and  a  general  educational  association. 

The  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  at  all  these  schools, 
colleges,  etc.,  exclusive  of  those  in  the  half-day  and  in  the 
night  schools,  was  about  87,000.  Including  the  military 
and  police  schools,  the  total  was  upwards  of  100,000. 

The  educational  museum,  founded  by  order  of  the 
Industrial  Bureau  in  1905,  is  another  very  useful  insti- 
tution; it  provides  apparatus  for  experiments  in  physics 
and  science,  and  furnishes  instruments  required  in  prop- 
erly teaching  other  branches.  There  is  an  Industrial 
Training  Institute,  which  gives  gratuitous  instruction 
to  poor  pupils  and  trains  them  to  become  skilful  workers 
and  artisans;  there  were  one  thousand,  five  years  ago, 
who  were  taught  by  fifteen  skilful  instructors,  three 
of  whom  were  foreign  experts. 

The  desire  to  secure  this  "new  learning"  has  spread 
into  rural  districts  far  from  the  centres,  like  Peking, 
Tientsin,  and  Pao-ting  fu;  in  a  village  thirty-five  miles 
from  Tientsin  there  was  a  flourishing  girls'  school, 
where,  in  addition  to  the  Chinese  written  language  and 
literature,  arithmetic  (Western),  geography,  elementary 
science,  sewing,  drawing,  cahsthenics,  music  (Western), 
and  etiquette  were  taught.  The  school-room  was 
arranged  in  somewhat  the  same  manner  as  those  of  Amer- 
ica and  Europe.  There  were  charts  hanging  on  the  walls 
to  give  suggestions  in  biology,  zoology,  and  physical  cul- 
ture. The  room  was  also  equipped  with  Western  maps 
(drawn  to  a  scale)  and  blackboards.  The  pupils  were 
taught  to  sing  to  the  accompaniment  of  an  organ.  This 
was  a  free  school,  supported  by  a  wealthy  family  of  the 


204  THE     COMING     CHINA 

place,  one  of  whom  gave  her  services  as  the  head  teacher. 
In  many  outlying  places  of  the  province  there  are  simi- 
lar schools  and  from  these  statements  the  influences 
operating  in  the  Coming  China  may  be  estimated. 

ChihH  is  divided  into  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
magisterial  districts,  in  each  of  which  there  were  about 
twenty  primary  schools,  having  on  an  average  an  attend- 
ance of  thirty  boys ;  besides,  here  and  there,  were  schools 
for  girls;  in  all  of  them  the  course  was  upon  the  national 
plan  provided  by  the  new  education,  and  quite  differ- 
ent from  the  old  method.  Each  district  has  one  "lower- 
primary"  and  one  "higher-primary"  school,  in  each  of 
which  about  fifty  boys  were  studying  their  Chinese  book 
and  were  also  given  a  start  in  modem  history,  geog- 
raphy, arithmetic,  and  simple  science.  In  each  of  the 
sixteen  prefectural  cities  (the  larger  divisions  of  a  prov- 
ince are  called  "prefectures")  there  was  one  Middle 
School  where  the  study  of  English  was  begun;  and  in 
these  schools  the  courses  in  arithmetic  and  mathematics 
were  more  advanced.  Much  attention  was  given  to 
national  sentiment  and  to  military  drill,  physical  cul- 
ture being  made  an  important  feature.  In  the  lower 
grade  schools  there  was  a  crude  military  drill;  but  the 
pupils  in  the  higher  schools  were  uniformed  and  drilled 
with  rifles,  and  were  taught  proper  field  operations. 
Much  emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  duty  of  developing 
China  in  ways  comparable  with  that  which  Japan  has 
followed.     "Nationalism"  was  a  conspicuous  feature. 

In  the  whole  of  this  scheme  of  local  and  national  edu- 
cation there  was  noticeable  after  the  war  between  Japan 
and  Russia  a  marked  tendency  to  follow  Japanese  ter- 


china's    development  205 

minology,  but  experience  has  since  taught  the  weakness 
of  the  Japanese  educational  system.  The  Chinese  have 
been  prompt  to  note  the  difference  between  themselves 
and  their  island  neighbours:  if  the  former  are  stoUd 
and  inert,  they  are  thorough;  if  the  latter  have  seemed 
to  evince  remarkable  capacity  to  adopt,  they  have 
never  overcome  their  innate  lack  of  thoroughness; 
they  are  inherently  superficial,  and  this  weakness  the 
Chinese  now  seek  to  avoid  in  their  educational  system. 
While  the  methods  of  distinguishing  the  different 
grades  of  schools,  colleges,  and  other  educational  insti- 
tutions, originally  adopted  from  Japan,  wiU  probably 
continue,  since  there  is  nothing  positively  objectionable 
therein,  it  is  becoming  clear  that  there  will  be  a  marked 
difference  in  results  achieved  in  Chinese  schools  giving 
modem  education,  as  compared  with  Japan.  It  would 
not  be  correct  to  say  that  the  Christian  missionaries 
have  been  called  upon  to  organize  this  reform  in  China's 
educational  methods,  which  really  amounts  to  a  crea- 
tion of  something  entirely  new  for  that  country;  but  it 
is  cheerfully  admitted  by  the  Chinese  themselves  that 
their  advice  and  assistance  have  been  called  for  and 
promptly  given;  wherever  it  was  possible  to  do  so, 
they  have  willingly  given  time  as  teachers  and  they  have 
constantly  been  called  upon  for  suggestions  as  to  text- 
books, curricula,  and  so  forth.  The  founding  of  the 
Imperial  University  in  Shansi,  the  hot-bed  of  the  Boxer 
insurrection,  had  much  influence  upon  the  late  Empress 
Dowager;  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries, including  women  and  children,  had  been 
massacred  in  that  province.    When  the  question  of  in- 


2o6  THE    COMING    CHINA 

demnity  was  discussed,  the  societies  to  which  those  vic- 
tims had  belonged  refused  to  accept  compensation  for 
property  destroyed;  but  Dr.  Timothy  Richard  induced 
Prince  Ch'ing  and  Li  Hung-Chang,  instead  of  giving  a 
money  indemnity  to  the  foreigners,  to  grant  the  same 
fund  for  modem  educational  institutions  in  this  backward 
province.  To  this  they  agreed  and  made  Dr.  Richard 
director  for  ten  years.  Seven  months  after  that  the 
Empress  issued  her  famous  decree. 

In  certain  features,  the  influence  of  Christianity  — 
through  the  effort  and  example  of  the  missionaries  —  has 
been  conspicuous;  for  example,  their  original  opposition 
to  the  "foot-binding"  cruelty  of  the  Chinese.  In  this 
they  found,  but  of  course  this  was  not  intentional, 
cooperation  and  strong  support  from  the  late  Empress 
Dowager.  The  Manchus  have  been,  and  are  now, 
opposed  to  this  Chinese  fashion;  but  custom  proved  too 
strong  for  them,  because  the  Chinese  have  always 
retorted  to  any  command  to  do  away  with  the  practice 
of  binding  a  girl-child's  feet  with  their  obedience  in 
adopting  the  queue,  and  the  argument  has  proved  to 
be  unanswerable.  But  since  there  has  come  a  relaxing 
of  the  compulsion  for  men  to  shave  the  head,  all  but  the 
crown,  and  wear  the  Manchu  queue,  the  injunction  to 
discontinue  the  foot-binding  custom  now  has  a  force 
which  did  not  exist  before.  So,  too,  in  the  organized 
crusade  against  opium,  the  missionaries  have  always 
been  solidly  for  the  effort  of  the  Government  to  stamp 
out  the  "smoking"  habit.  This  subject  will  engage  our 
attention  in  the  chapter  to  be  devoted  to  a  considera- 
tion of  the  duty  of  the  United  States  towards  China. 


CHAPTER    IX 

JAPAN'S    INFLUENCE    UPON   CHINA 

WE  begin  this  chapter  with  a  statement  that  may 
surprise  some  and  will  perhaps  be  offensive  to 
others:  the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  have  hated  each 
other  cordially  for  many  centuries;  ever  since,  if  not 
before,  the  famous  Taiko-Sama  (Hideyosha  Toyotomi) 
invaded  Korea  in  the  sixteenth  century,  without  just 
provocation,  and  did  not  succeed  in  his  effort  to  conquer 
the  peninsula  and  anticipate  history  by  centuries  in 
annexing  that  country  to  Japan.  For  as  long  as  there 
is  anything  that  we  can  call  Japanese  history,  before 
the  year  1872  when  New  Japan  found  herself  making 
her  own,  there  was  a  pleasing  and  proper  disposition  on 
the  part  of  the  Japanese  to  admit  gratefully  their  in- 
debtedness to  China  for  all  that  there  was  of  culture  or 
education  among  them.  Since  1872  the  disposition  to 
find  within  their  own  borders  the  seed  from  which  all 
their  civilization  grew,  has  been  growing  stronger  day  by 
day,  until  now  Japan  aspires  not  only  to  be  China's 
mentor,  but  she  would  be  quite  willing  to  raise  her  flag 
over  the  whole  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  not  content  with 
appropriating  what  certainly  was  once  a  part  thereof, 
Korea,  and  with  exerting  her  influence  over  what  is 
yet  incontestably  China's  territory,  that  is,  Southern 
Manchuria. 

207 


2o8  THE    COMING    CHINA 

There  is  nothing  in  the  former  history  of  Japan  — 
that  is  to  say,  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, when  first  the  Japanese  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Europeans  and  began  to  learn  what  the  West  had  to 
teach  her  —  nothing  that  the  Japanese  do  not  owe  to 
China;  letters,  history,  religion,  arts,  sciences,  the  whole 
category  of  that  which  makes  civilization  and  progress. 
If  ever  there  was  anything  in  Japan  that  approximated 
to  a  written  language  before  the  introduction  of  the 
Chinese  ideographs,  it  has  disappeared  so  completely 
that  not  a  trace  of  it  remains,  and  probably  nothing  of 
the  sort  ever  was.  To  China  the  power  to  make  written 
records  was  one  of  Japan's  earliest  debts;  this,  however, 
was  something  which  had  to  be  adapted  to  meet  the 
mental  attainments  of  the  ordinary  Japanese,  and 
accordingly  we  find  the  Japanese  syllabary  appended 
to  a  page  of  ideographic  text  to  facilitate  the  reading. 
Chinese  scholars  ridicule  this,  and  native  Japanese  of 
parts  affect  to  ignore  it.  Japanese  history  is  palpably 
modelled  upon  the  myths  of  creation  and  evolution 
which  were  old  in  China  two  thousand  years  ago.  Shinto, 
the  so-called  native  cult  (it  is  not  a  religion  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word),  is  merely  adapted  Confucianism, 
expanded  to  gratify  the  vanity  of  the  Japanese.  Chro- 
nology in  Japan  is  something  made  to  order  in  imitation 
of  such  records  in  China,  and  it  is,  as  has  been  declared 
by  the  most  competent  authority,  Bramsen,  one  of  the 
greatest  literary  frauds  ever  perpetrated;  this  condem- 
nation receives  the  endorsement  of  such  scholars  as 
Chamberlain,  Satow,  Aston,  and  others.  There  is  no 
such  a  thing  as  native  fine  art  in  Japan  —  what  there 


japan's   influence  209 

is  of  indigenous  art  is  something  so  crude  that  even  the 
Japanese  themselves  are  ashamed  of  it,  and  it  is  acknowl- 
edged by  archaeologists  only.  True!  and  this  writer  is 
one  who  has  borne  testimony  to  this  fact,  the  Chinese 
models  from  which  the  Japanese  artists  worked  were 
so  improved  upon  as  to  be  transformed  into  something 
almost  new.  No  one  would  for  a  moment  think  of 
comparing  the  work  of  a  Chinese  artist  with  the  produc- 
tions of  Japan's  best.  If  Japan  did  not  get  her  first 
lessons  in  the  making  of  pottery  from  China,  we  must 
admit  that  the  specimens  of  this  ware,  made  prior  to  the 
lessons  taught  by  Korean  and  Chinese  workmen,  cannot 
be  placed  in  our  cabinet  as  types  of  the  beautiful.  What 
Uttle  there  was  of  science  in  Japan  prior  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago  was  the  result  of  Chinese  teaching. 
There  is  good  reason  to  doubt  the  claim  of  the  Japanese 
to  that  unbroken  line  of  sovereigns  back  to  the  beginning 
of  Japan's  history;  for  Chinese  records  indicate  that 
there  were  formerly  thirteen  "kings"  —  probably  they 
were  feudal  chiefs  —  in  the  land,  who  one  by  one  dis- 
appeared until  the  whole  power  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  chief  of  the  Yamato  clan,  and  then,  when  Chinese 
history  came  to  be  pretty  well  known,  this  chief  dignity 
demanded  an  ancestral  line  which  should  outshine  the 
dynastic  history  of  China,  and  accordingly,  the  Kojiki 
and  Nihongi  (see  page  136)  were  prepared  to  gratify  his 
vanity.  Furthermore,  if  Japanese  records  for  the  past 
one  thousand  years  are  examined  carefully,  it  may  be 
more  than  suspected  that  through  Imperial  frivolity  and 
feminine  weakness  the  continuity  of  the  Imperial  line 
has  not  been  so  untainted  as  is  claimed.    In  a  country 


2IO  THE     COMING    CHINA 

where  concubinage  has  been  tolerated,  the  blood  of  the 
Imperial  line  can  hardly  be  that  of  purity  on  both  sides, 
Emperor  and  Empress,  as  would  be  demanded  elsewhere; 
but  even  when  we  accept  the  many  emperors  of  Japan 
who  —  on  their  mother's  side  —  were  not  of  the  blood 
royal,  we  find  that  there  are  worse  taints  than  this  which 
comes  from  concubinage. 

In  all  things  Japan  was  China's  pupil  until  the  former 
decided,  in  1872,  to  break  away  from  the  traditions  of 
the  Far  East  and  to  strike  out  upon  a  line  of  develop- 
ment diametrically  opposed  to  the  example  that  China 
had  set  for  over  a  millennium  and  much  against  the  ad- 
monition of  her  old  teacher.  It  was  not  so  difficult  for 
Western  nations  to  obtain  residential  and  trading  priv- 
ileges in  Japan  as  China  had  for  so  long  tried  to  make  it; 
and  the  wit  of  the  Japanese  soon  made  it  appear  clear 
that  they  had  everything  to  gain  by  liberality  and  noth- 
ing to  lose,  when  their  development  had  progressed  far 
enough  to  win  from  the  West  recognition  of  the  sincerity 
in  the  change  that  had  been  wrought.  Japan  then 
ceased  to  be  China's  pupil,  yet  it  was  long  before  Japan 
became  China's  teacher;  that  has  come  within  a  very 
few  years  past.  It  was  again  unfortunate  Korea  that 
was  to  be  the  bone  of  contention  and  the  means  of  revers- 
ing the  relative  positions  of  teacher  and  pupil  which  had 
existed  for  so  many  centuries.  Japan  promptly  realized 
that  the  military  methods  of  the  Far  East  were  in  no 
way  competent  to  stand  against  those  of  the  West,  and 
therefore  she  bent  her  energies  to  the  creation  of  a 
"Western"  army,  and  a  ''European"  navy,  always  with 
the  then  one  purpose  in   her  mind,  of  changing  the 


japan's     influence  211 

record  of  history  so  far  as  it  affected  Korea,  and  re- 
asserting (what  never  did  in  reality  exist)  her  right 
either  to  possess  in  fact,  or  to  control  morally,  that  con- 
tinental country.  All  this  was  as  deliberate  as  anything 
can  be,  and  in  1894  came  the  culmination  of  preparation, 
when  the  excuse  was  made  for  doing  successfully  what 
had  failed  certainly  once,  and  —  if  we  accept  a  myth — 
twice  before.  Because  the  Japanese  say  that  Empress 
Jingo  invaded  Korea  in  the  third  century,  they  claim 
she  was  successful,  but  that  is  not  true  at  all. 

In  1894,  then,  China  realized  most  painfully  that  her 
pupil  had  broken  away  from  leading  strings  and  turned 
against  her  teacher.  China  was  not  in  any  way  prepared 
for  war  at  that  time  and  the  action  of  the  Japanese  was 
startling,  not  only  in  its  initial  move,  but  in  every  stage 
of  its  further  development.  True,  China  had  what  she 
called  an  army,  and  the  soldiers  were  of  good  stuff;  had 
they  been  properly  equipped  and  drilled;  had  they  been 
decently  cared  for  as  to  commissariat;  most  of  all,  had 
they  been  led  by  competent  officers  who  had  some  sense 
of  esprit  de  corps,  that  army  might  have  met  the  Japanese 
on  even  terms.  China  had  a  navy,  too,  but  of  it  the 
same  things  must  be  said  that  have  been  told  of  the  army; 
yet  with  this  material  addition,  the  attainments  of  the 
Japanese  naval  commanders  were  not  the  same  in  1894 
that  they  were  in  1 904-1 905,  and  competent  American 
and  European  naval  officers  declare  that  had  there  been 
the  slightest  trace  of  technical  ability  on  board  the  Chi- 
nese war  vessels,  the  results  of  the  Battle  of  the  Yalu 
would  have  been  quite  different  from  what  they  were. 
But  it  was  not  to  be,  apparently.     China  had  to  accept 


212  THE     COMING     CHINA 

defeat  and  pay  dearly  for  the  lesson  the  despised  little 
Japanese  taught  her.  In  one  way  the  lesson  was  bene- 
ficial; it  helped  China  to  feel  that  the  time  had  come 
when  she  must  abandon  her  old  poHcy  and  adopt  in 
some  measure  the  ways  of  the  world.  The  defeat,  how- 
ever, never  operated  to  bring  about  any  love  for  the 
Japanese.  On  the  other  hand,  since  we  always  hate 
those  whom  we  have  injured  unfairly,  Japan's  hatred  of 
China  became  intensified  and  the  contempt  was  frankly 
outspoken.  Japanese  school-boys  have  been  taught, 
ever  since  1894,  to  speak  contemptuously  of  China,  and 
they  do  it  with  a  frankness  that  is  disgusting  to  Western 
people  and  rankling  to  the  Chinese.  Yet  the  superior 
wisdom  of  China  became  conspicuous  even  in  this  defeat, 
disgrace,  and  hatred;  Japan  had  learnt  the  ways  of 
Europe,  and  by  that  knowledge  she  had  done  what  had 
been  incredible  before,  defeated  great  China — for  China, 
of  course,  had  the  conviction,  which  was  surmised  else- 
where, that  Httle  Japan  could  not  perform  a  miracle.  It 
was  easier  for  China  to  learn  something  of  the  way 
Japan  had  come  into  possession  of  this  new  and  sur- 
prising strength  by  sending  her  young  men  to  Japan  to 
study,  and  there  they  went  by  tens,  by  scores,  by  hun- 
dreds, by  thousands,  until  at  one  time  there  were  upwards 
of  thirty  thousand  of  them  in  the  city  of  Tokyo  alone. 
However,  when  they  began  to  return  and  as  soon  as 
they  were  called  upon  to  show  what  they  had  learnt,  in 
very  few  cases  was  it  found  that  the  stay  in  Japan  had 
been  productive  of  any  real  good,  while  in  many  more 
ways  it  had  wrought  absolute  mischief.  The  moral 
atmosphere  had  been  bad;  the  socialistic  lessons,  which 


japan's   influence  213 

were  curbed  by  home  influences  for  the  Japanese  stu- 
dents, had  run  rampant  with  the  Chinese;  the  slipshod 
methods  which  satisfied  the  average  Japanese  educator 
were  totally  unfitted  for  the  thorough-going  Chinese,  and 
the  experiment  was  eventually  abandoned  —  although 
this  statement  rather  anticipates  the  events  in  this 
story. 

In  1900  there  came  to  China  an  experience  which  was 
unique  —  the  Boxer  Insurrection.  It  is  hardly  too 
much  to  say  now  that  this  was  in  fact  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  some  government  officials,  if  not  of  the  Govern- 
ment itself,  to  drive  out  the  foreigners;  only  bitter  and 
expensive  experience  had  taught  that  the  government's 
hand  must  not  be  shown.  Subsequently  there  came 
the  anomaly  of  a  foreign  army  on  Chinese  soil,  fighting 
against  China,  and  yet  at  all  times  in  communication 
with  the  government  and  avowedly  acting  with  that 
government's  approval.  The  part  which  Japan  played 
was  unquestionably  admirable,  but  it  did  not  tend  to 
wipe  out  the  feeling  of  hatred.  After  the  Boxer  troubles 
were  over,  we  know  how  Japan's  place  in  the  Liaotung 
peninsula  was  taken  by  Russia,  and  China's  weakness 
at  that  time  could  not  possibly  have  had  any  other 
effect  than  to  increase  Japan's  contempt.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  such  thing  as  backbone  in  China  —  she  who  had 
professed  to  be  sovereign  of  all  Asia,  who  looked  upon 
all  those  unfortunates  that  lived  beyond  her  borders  as 
"barbarians,"  was  now  being  torn  apart,  and  not  one 
paid  her  the  slightest  respect;  from  being  a  nation,  she 
was  likely  to  become  a  sort  of  football. 

For  four  years  these  wretched  conditions  went  on 


214  THE     COMING    CHINA 

from  bad  to  worse;  yet,  we  must  give  Japan  credit  for 
having  tried  to  persuade  China  into  asserting  her  rights 
as  against  Russian  aggression,  German  greed,  and  British 
apathy,  but  without  avail.  It  was  then  that  the  West 
spoke  of  China  as  being  in  an  almost  hopeless  condition 
and  the  partition  of  China  was  the  theme.  Finding 
that  China  would  not  or  could  not  do  anything  to  defend 
herself,  the  Japanese  statesmen  now  saw  their  oppor- 
tunity to  further  their  own  plans,  and  they  availed 
themselves  of  it.  Japan  ostensibly  and  ostentatiously 
took  China's  place  and  ordered  Russia  out  of  Manchuria. 
Russia,  of  course,  smiled  and  refused  to  obey.  That 
"The  Little  Japs,"  as  they  called  them,  could  be  serious 
never  entered  the  mind  of  the  Russian  Czar  and  his 
advisers;  or,  if  they  really  meant  what  they  were  saying, 
to  beheve  that  they  could  enforce  even  a  semblance  of 
obedience  was  to  insult  the  Russians'  o^vn  sense  of  dig- 
nity and  superiority.  Then  came  the  Russo-Japanese 
War  with  negative  results.  Japan  did  not  defeat 
Russia  and  when  the  real  conditions  existing  in  the 
Summer  of  1905,  at  the  time  President  Roosevelt  per- 
suaded the  combatants  to  patch  up  a  peace  in  the 
interests  of  humanity,  became  known,  it  was  found  that 
that  unfortunate  interference  had  merely  played  into 
Japan's  hands,  saved  her  from  inevitable  and  crushing 
defeat,  and  shifted  the  control  of  China's  territory  from 
one  foreigner  to  another.  The  duplicity  of  Japan  in 
taking  Russia's  place  in  South  Manchuria  intensified  the 
feeUng  of  hatred,  and  yet  her  seeming  success  against 
Russia  in  the  battles  that  were  fought  and  won  by  the 
Japanese  troops  undoubtedly,  her  compelling  the  fortress 


japan's   influence  215 

of  Port  Arthur  to  capitulate  —  we  say  nothing  of  the 
treason  and  shameful  cowardice  of  that  act  —  all  these 
things  stimulated  China  to  action.  Then  actually 
began  a  New  China,  for  which  the  acts  of  the  preceding 
seven  or  eight  years  had  been  merely  a  preparation. 

If,  then,  the  influence  which  Japan  has  exerted  upon 
China  and  that  which  she  continues  to  exert  is  good  in- 
some  respects,  it  is  bad  in  others.  As  a  stimulus  to  the 
older  nation  to  come  out  of  the  shell  of  exclusiveness 
that  had  so  long  kept  her  from  taking  the  place  in  the 
world  that  she  is  fitted  to  fill,  that  influence  was  for 
good;  but,  judging  by  the  standard  of  morality  and 
friendship,  it  was  for  bad,  and  of  this  latter  aspect  there 
is  much  to  be  said.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  time  when 
Japan  reopened  her  doors  to  people  from  the  West  — 
that  is  1854  or  1857,  according  to  the  view  we  take  of 
Commodore  Perry's  first  and  second  efforts.  Japan's 
exclusiveness  had  been  more  effectually  maintained  than 
China's;  she  had  gone  through  somewhat  similar  experi- 
ences with  Europeans  in  the  sixteenth  century  that  had 
come  to  China,  but  in  a  much  smaller  way.  First,  the 
Portuguese  had  sought  acquaintance  and  had  obtained 
privileges  of  engaging  in  trade;  these  strangers  had 
been  supplanted  by  the  Spaniards  and  permission  had 
been  given  to  preach  Christianity,  the  head  of  the  gov- 
ernment (the  Shogun,  not  the  Mikado)  sagely  declaring 
that,  since  there  were  so  many  divisions  of  the  Buddhist 
Church  with  such  diverse  views  as  almost  to  make 
them  different  religions,  he  could  conceive  of  no  harm 
coming  to  the  state  or  the  people  through  the  introduc- 
tion of  another  foreign  creed  which  appeared  to  him  to 


2l6  THE    COMING    CHINA 

possess  some  very  attractive  features  in  its  doctrines  of 
charity,  brotherhood  of  man,  and  other  respects.  But 
the  quarrels  of  the  Christian  sects,  and  above  all  the 
indiscretion  of  one  of  the  foreign  laymen,  a  Spanish 
captain  who  declared  that  his  Royal  Master  first  sent 
merchants  to  trade,  then  priests  to  teach,  and  when  the 
instruction  had  gone  to  the  right  point  and  the  converts 
had  learnt  the  use  of  the  foreign  weapons  put  into  their 
hands  by  the  merchants,  soldiers  were  sent  to  take 
possession  of  the  new  country,— this  combination  caused 
the  expulsion  of  the  foreigners,  the  prescription  of  their 
doctrine,  the  death  of  many  converts,  and  the  closing 
of  Japan's  doors  for  nearly  three  centuries.  This  shut- 
ting up  of  Japan,  China  approved;  the  reopening  to 
Americans  first  and  then  to  everybody  else  who  chose 
to  come,  she  condemned. 

When  we  come  down  to  very  recent  times,  China's 
mistrust  of  Japan  assumes  a  more  critical  aspect.  The 
loss  of  the  Loo-Choo  Islands  —  and  the  people  of  that 
Uttle  archipelago  are  in  every  respect  more  Chinese  than 
Japanese  —  did  not  tend  to  make  China  love  Japan. 
Her  defeat  in  1 893-1894  and  the  loss  of  the  Liaotung  Pen- 
insula, for  which,  at  Russia's  demand  supplemented  by 
the  favour  of  France  and  Germany,  Formosa  and  the 
Pescadores  were  soon  substituted  permanently,  added 
to  the  feeling  of  resentment;  and  now  the  annexation  of 
Korea,  and  the  confident  assurance  that  Japan  is  in 
Southern  Manchuria  to  stay,  have  emphasized  the  dis- 
trust of  Japan  that  has  long  existed  in  the  breast  of  every 
loyal  Chinese.  It  has  seemed  to  them,  not  unnaturally, 
that  all  things  are  conspiring  against  them;  the  appar- 


japan's   influence  217 

ently  friendly  efforts  of  America  have  so  egregiously 
miscarried  through  Japan's  machinations  as  to  justify 
this  thought.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  Chinese 
statesmen  were  more  disappointed  than  they  expressed 
when  Mr.  Secretary  Hay  accepted  the  demand  of  Russia 
to  withdraw  the  Consuls  to  the  five  new  places  in  Man- 
churia, after  their  government  had  issued  exequaturs 
to  them.  It  seemed  to  indicate  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  rights  of  the  two  belligerents  to  be  where  they 
were,  to  fight  on  Chinese  soil,  over  an  issue  that  would 
surely  inure  to  the  benefit  of  one  or  the  other  of  them 
and  work  against  China's  integrity.  Japan  was  prompt 
to  recognize  this  weakness,  and  had  America  taken  a 
firm  stand  announcing  to  both  Japan  and  Russia  that 
she  intended  to  let  those  Consuls  raise  their  flag,  and 
that  any  affront  offered  to  the  flag  would  be  at  the  peril 
of  the  country  which  gave  it,  would  be  at  that  nation's 
peril,  it  would  have  had  a  salutary  effect  upon  the  intru- 
ders and  might  have  shortened  the  war  in  a  way  that 
would  lead  to  China's  comfort.  The  subsequent  cir- 
cular note  concerning  the  ''Open  Door"  had  but  little 
effect,  and  the  still  later  effort  of  Mr.  Secretary  Knox 
to  neutrahze  the  Manchurian  Railways  was  openly 
flouted  by  Japan  and  Russia. 

It  is  well  to  note  how  Japan  has  stultified  herself  in 
China's  eyes  by  the  act  of  the  anarchists  who,  in  Septem- 
ber, 19 10,  were  discovered  to  have  formed  a  plot  to  kill 
their  Emperor;  for  the  parade  made  by  the  Japanese  of 
their  unfailing  loyalty  to  their  ruler  was  accepted  by 
the  Chinese,  as  it  had  been  by  nearly  all  the  world.  It 
was  believed  that  in  no  other  country  which  made  the 


2l8  THE     COMING     CHINA 

claim  of  being  civilized  and  modem  in  its  political  and 
social  organization  was  the  "Divine  Right  of  Kings" 
carried  out  so  consistently  as  in  Japan.  To  his  subjects, 
the  Emperor  was  supposed  to  be  superhuman,  a  direct 
descendant,  in  an  unbroken  line  extending  back  through- 
out eternity,  of  the  gods  themselves;  yet  some  of  those 
subjects  conspired  to  take  the  life  of  that  ruler  who 
stood  not  only  as  the  head  of  the  nation,  but  as  its 
intermediary  between  themselves  and  his  divine  an- 
cestors; whose  intercessions  for  himself  and  them  were 
heard  and  answered  by  the  gods  who  had  given  themselves 
to  Japan  alone,  and  therefore  it  was  deemed  unnecessary 
for  the  divinely  descended  people  to  take  thought  of 
the  moral  laws  which  govern  such  earthly,  common,  and 
hence  weak  and  wicked  people  as  the  Chinese,  all  other 
Asiatics,  Africans,  Europeans,  and  Americans.  The 
Chinese  naturally  and  properly  argued  that  if  there 
were  these  few  whose  machinations  had  been  discovered, 
there  were,  of  course,  others  who  thought  as  did  those 
"political  assassins. "  Then,  too,  the  farce  of  their  trial, 
the  character  of  the  punishments  ordered,  and  the  mode 
of  their  execution,  all  made  an  impression  upon  the 
Chinese,  who  have  asked  themselves  many  questions 
about  the  worth  of  Japan's  pretended  civilization.  Why 
was  it  that  some  of  those  devoted  subjects  thus  went 
diametrically  against  the  principles  of  their  land?  The 
answer  was  prompt  and  emphatic:  it  is  because  the 
burden  put  upon  the  Japanese  people  by  the  mad  desire 
of  their  sovereign  and  his  advisers  for  mihtary  display 
has  become  insupportable,  and  this  is  too  true.  There 
is  in  Japan  but  little  of  the  awful  poverty  that  is  to  be 


japan's   influence  219 

seen  in  every  city  of  China,  and  yet  we  cannot  truly  call 
the  Japanese  a  wealthy  people;  and  for  such  people 
to  give  up  one-third  of  their  incomes,  in  direct  and  in- 
direct taxation,  with  a  prospect  of  this  burden  being 
increased  instead  of  being  lessened  —  as  was  promised 
when  peace  came  after  the  war  with  Russia  —  is  a  bur- 
den they  cannot  bear.  Looking  for  some  reason  for  the 
tremendous  increase  in  Japan's  armament,  a  most  logi- 
cal suspicion  was  aroused:  this  great  army  and  this 
huge  fleet  are  to  be  used  against  somebody  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exacting  an  indemnity  sufficient  to  pay  off  Japan's 
foreign  indebtedness  and  relieve  her  Treasury  from  the 
inevitable  bankruptcy  which  now  faces  Japan.  No 
adequate  provision  is  being  made  for  paying  that  debt 
in  an  ordinary  way;  there  is  no  proper  sinking  fund; 
each  year  the  budget  shows,  after  the  juggling  with  figures 
has  been  adjusted  and  the  eyes  of  the  creditors  are 
opened,  that  there  is  either  an  actual  deficit  or  a  paltry 
balance  that  is  not  a  drop  in  the  bucket  as  against  the 
hundreds  of  millions  of  yen  in  bonds  sold  in  Europe  and 
America,  which  must  sometime  be  paid  or  repudiated. 
In  that  view  of  the  situation  there  recur  the  events  of 
1894-1895;  but  the  indemnity  then  extorted  from  China 
would  go  but  a  very  Httle  way  towards  restoring  Japan's 
financial  condition,  and,  with  this  possibihty  before  her, 
how  is  it  possible  for  China  to  look  upon  Japan's  influ- 
ences upon  her  government  and  people  as  good? 

There  is  a  sort  of  consistency  about  the  Chinese  that 
is  sterling.  Granted  that  this  consistency  has  often 
gone  along  the  pathway  of  stupidity,  it  has  been  recog- 
nized by  all  students  as  a  lasting  trait  in  the  Chi- 


220  THE     COMING     CHINA 

nese  character.  Therefore  the  lack  of  it  in  Japan  has 
struck  the  Chinese  with  more  force,  and  they  reason 
somewhat  thus:  if  the  Emperor  of  Japan  is  such  a  god- 
like creature  that  his  people  must  do  him  reverence  as  a 
descendant  of  the  gods,  why  are  not  his  son  (by  an 
imperial  concubine)  and  that  son's  son  equally  divine? 
So  sanctified  is  the  reigning  monarch  that  his  subjects 
may  not  look  down  upon  him  from  an  elevation;  they 
have  but  recently  been  permitted  to  look  upon  his  face 
at  all;  and  in  every  way  they  are  compelled  to  yield  him 
homage  as  if  he  were  divine.  When  does  the  ordinary 
man  attain  this  divinity?  When  will  the  miracle  be 
wrought  that  transforms  the  present  Crown  Prince,  or 
that  Prince's  son  —  should  the  Prince  himself  die  before 
ascending  the  throne  —  from  a  man  into  a  god?  The 
influence  of  this  superstition  upon  the  minds  of  the 
enhghtened  Chinese  is  strongly  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
Japanese;  and  the  calm  effrontery  of  some  of  those 
people  in  venturing  to  suggest  that  Japan  will  provide 
an  emperor  for  China  —  should  a  dynastic  change  be 
brought  about  —  who  will  reign  by  "divine  right"  is 
properly  resented  as  an  insolence.  For  with  the  inso- 
lence is  coupled  the  patent  fact  of  an  intention  to  annex 
the  whole  empire  of  great  China  to  the  bankrupt  little 
one,  Japan,  and,  by  exploiting  the  marvellous  resources 
of  the  greater  for  the  benefit  of  the  smaller,  replenish 
Japan's  treasury  and  fill  her  war-chest  for  future  con- 
tingencies. 

But  little  thought  or  time  was  given  by  Chinese  pub- 
licists to  a  careful  study  of  Japanese  character  until  less 
than  fifty  years  ago.    The  Japanese  were  classed  among 


japan's     influence  221 

the  "outer  barbarians";  possibly,  being  of  very  much 
the  same  complexion  as  themselves,  the  Chinese  formerly 
gave  to  Japan  a  little  higher  place  in  the  list  of  those 
unfortunate  beings  who  never  had  or  could  have  the 
privilege  of  being  like  themselves,  but  they  were  out- 
siders, none  the  less.  Until  well  within  historic  times, 
the  embassies  which  the  Japanese  sent  to  China  were 
called  "tribute-bearers,"  although  the  objections  raised 
by  the  Japanese  to  this  contumely  led  the  Chinese  offi- 
cials to  refrain  from  addressing  the  messengers  as  such. 
In  1870  the  high-handed  proceedings  of  the  Japanese 
in  the  matter  of  the  expedition  to  Formosa  was  the  first 
clash  between  China  and  New  Japan.  The  episode 
does  not  redound  to  Japan's  credit  at  all,  and  although 
China  —  as  was  usual  —  agreed  to  buy  ofif  Japan  with  a 
payment  of  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  "to  reim- 
burse her  outlays  in  Formosa  for  roads,  houses,  and 
defenses,"  yet  the  impression  left  upon  the  minds  of 
the  Chinese  statesmen  was  not  favourable,  even  if  this 
opinion  was  altered  twenty-three  years  later,  which  is 
doubtful.  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  influence  Japan 
has  always  tended  to  exert  has  not  impressed  the  Chinese 
with  confidence. 

There  has  always  been  a  sneer  at  China's  "pretended" 
reform,  reconstruction,  and  advance;  while  of  positive 
obstruction,  there  is  a  goodly  list  to  be  charged  to  Japan's 
account.  A  complete  enumeration  of  Japan's  acts, 
which  the  Chinese  not  improperly  conceived  to  be 
unwarranted  obstacles  thrown  across  the  pathway  their 
country  has  been  trying  to  tread  for  some  ten  years  or  so, 
would  be  tedious;  but  one  or  two  may  be  mentioned. 


222  THE     COMING     CHINA 

The  protest  which  Japan  made  to  the  construction  of 
the  Hsin  Min-Tung  and  Fakumen  Railway  in  Southern 
Manchuria,  on  the  ground  that  it  paralleled  a  line 
already  built  and  controlled  by  the  Japanese,  was  en- 
forced by  a  display  of  military  power  and  the  shaking 
in  China's  face  of  the  "mailed  fist"  so  vigourously  that 
China  had  to  give  way.  Yet  her  position  was  defensible 
from  every  point  of  view;  fundamentally,  her  sovereign 
right  should  have  left  her  the  sole  arbiter,  and  if  she  saw 
fit  to  build  a  line  within  her  own  territory,  no  outside 
government  had  the  right  to  gainsay  her;  then,  the 
position  assumed  by  Japan  was  indefensible,  as  a  matter 
of  fact.  In  the  sense  that  she  pretended  to  use  the  word 
"parallel"  there  was  no  such  objection  to  the  railway 
China  proposed  to  build;  it  would  have  traversed  a 
country  for  which  the  line  under  Japanese  control  could 
not  properly  supply  needed  facilities;  it  was  not  any 
more  parallel  than  would  be,  let  us  say,  the  New  York 
Central  and  the  Erie  with  New  York  City  and  Chicago 
as  their  termini.  The  objection  raised  by  the  strong 
was  simply  a  display  of  superior  might,  and  the  yielding 
of  the  weak  was,  in  the  circumstances,  inevitable.  More 
recently  the  same  line  of  argument  has  been  followed 
in  the  matter  of  China's  desire  to  build  the  Mukden- 
Antung  Railway;  her  wish  has  been  thwarted  by  another 
shake  of  the  "mailed  fist,"  and  China  gave  way.  The 
complaints  which  Japanese  newspapers  (and  these,  of 
course,  voice  the  sentiments  of  both  government  and 
people)  continually  make  of  the  inability  or  imwilling- 
ness  of  the  Chinese  authorities  in  Manchuria  to  preserve 
order  and  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  strangers 


St.  John's  University:   the  Campus,  showing  Yu  Hall 
Preparatory    Building   and   Science   Hall,  Shanghai 


Quadrangle  and  Clock:   Foreign  Buildings  with  Chinese 
Roofs,  St.  John's  University,  Shanghai 


japan's   influence  223 

would  seem  to  be  justified  if  we  accept  the  Japanese 
statement  of  facts,  and,  with  the  Japanese  people,  put 
the  whole  responsibility  for  this  neglect  or  inabihty  upon 
China;  but  the  West  does  not  get  a  full  and  fair  state- 
ment of  both  sides  of  the  matter.  There  are  no  organized 
Chinese  Press  Bureaus  in  Europe  and  America  to  pre- 
sent China's  interests  and  intentions  in  the  most  favour- 
able light,  the  truth  being  a  matter  of  vital  importance: 
to  emphasize  merit  and  to  condone  (or  misrepresent) 
faults.  English  editions  of  Chinese  newspapers  are  not 
sent  abroad;  nor  are  there  any  native  journals  that  give 
a  column  or  a  page  in  some  language  of  Europe  which 
can  be  read  by  others  than  adept  Sinologues.  All  these 
things  are  carefully  provided  by  the  Japanese,  and  the 
newspaper  correspondents  are  well  supplied  with  money 
and  information  to  make  the  best  case  for  Japan  — 
right  or  wrong.  Consequently  we  do  not  know  how 
often  China's  effort  to  maintain  her  rights  in  Manchuria 
and  to  afford  protection  to  aliens  are  blocked  by  the 
interference  of  over-officious  Japanese  or  Russian  poHce- 
men,  military  guards,  or  civihans.  It  is  not  intended  to 
maintain  that  China  has  done  or  is  yet  able  to  do  her 
full  duty  in  these  matters;  but  it  is  contended  that  the 
interference  upon  every  possible  occasion  is  a  poor  way 
to  develop  ability  to  do  right.  The  protestations  in 
Japanese  journals  about  China's  sovereign  rights  in 
Manchuria  are  so  palpably  insincere  and  are  so  consist- 
ently refuted  by  Japan's  acts  —  official  and  private  — 
as  to  be  farcical;  this  China  knows,  and  if  with  that 
knowledge  she  finds  Japan's  influence  to  be  bad,  it  is 
not  anything  to  cause  surprise. 


224  THE     COMING    CHINA 

But  probably  the  most  pernicious  influence  exerted  by 
Japan  has  been  in  educational  matters,  because  the 
defects  in  ability  and  the  false  notions  imparted  affect 
so  many  of  the  common  people  of  China.  The  apathy 
of  China  was  suddenly  overcome  about  ten  years  ago, 
and  to  the  surprise  of  all  the  world  there  was  a  sudden 
and  vociferous  demand  for  Western  education.  The 
supply  of  teachers  at  home  was  so  preposterously  in- 
adequate as  to  be  practically  nothing  as  against  the 
demand;  naturally,  those  who  were  trying  to  establish 
primary  and  secondary  schools  sent  to  Japan  for  teach- 
ers, and  the  requisition  was  honoured  in  a  sort  of  a  way 
because  the  Chinese  did  not  stop  to  inquire  into  condi- 
tions in  Japan  itself.  Had  they  carefully  inspected 
schools  of  these  grades  in  Japan,  they  would  undoubt- 
edly have  learnt  that  the  supply  of  teachers  was  much 
short  of  the  requirements  at  home,  and,  what  is  most 
important,  that  the  standard  for  such  teachers  is  alto- 
gether too  low  in  Japan  itself.  The  urgent  demand  for 
these  lower-grade  schoolmasters  had  to  be  suppUed  forth- 
with— anybody  was  made  welcome.  If  he  had  a  certifi- 
cate, good ;  if  he  did  n't,  his  own  statement  as  to  ability 
and  experience  was  accepted,  and  the  school  began.  The 
inevitable  result  was  disastrous;  it  called  forth  severe 
and  condemning  criticism  from  competent  European 
visitors  who  were  disposed  to  be  very  friendly  towards 
Japan,  and  nearly  all  of  these  low-grade  Japanese  teach- 
ers were  soon  found  to  be  incompetent  to  teach  anything, 
they  could  not  talk  Chinese,  and  they  were  slow  and 
stupid  in  learning  the  language;  they  either  knew  no 
English  at  all  or  their  pronunciation,  grammar,  locu- 


japan's    influence  225 

tion  were  so  atrocious  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  them 
to  use  that  language  as  a  medium  of  instruction.  When 
anything  like  science  was  attempted,  in  even  its  most 
rudimentary  form,  the  superficial  knowledge  of  these 
imported  teachers  became  conspicuous,  or  their  incorrect 
statements  and  deductions  were  likely  to  work  irreparable 
mischief.  These  defects  at  the  bottom  of  the  educa- 
tional ladder  soon  led  the  Chinese  School  Boards  and 
the  Bureau  of  Education  to  inquire  as  to  the  soundness 
of  the  upper  rungs,  and  as  a  result  the  Japanese  school- 
masters, higher  school-teachers,  and  University  profes- 
sors were  dismissed  by  the  wholesale;  and  the  contempt 
which  the  Chinese  have  always  had  for  Japanese  flip- 
pancy became  intensified. 

The  Reverend  Lord  William  Gascoyne-Cecil,  in 
"Changing  China,"  comments  upon  conditions  in  that 
country  thus :  "  The  cause  of  the  new  national  movement 
was  the  sense  of  humiliation  brought  about  by  political 
events  culminating  in  the  battle  of  Mukden,  when  a 
flagrant  act  of  insolent  contempt  for  the  laws  of  neutral- 
ity was  felt  all  the  more  deeply  because  China  had  to 
submit  to  that  which  she  was  powerless  to  resist."  He 
thinks,  as  do  others,  that  China  fears  Japan  more  than 
she  does  Russia,  and  that  China  is  far  too  rich  a  prize 
to  be  safe  from  the  ambitions  of  her  island  neighbour  if 
left  unguarded.  Consequently,  the  maintenance  of  the 
integrity  of  the  Chinese  Empire  is  for  every  reason  most 
desirable,  and  that  integrity  can  best  be  maintained  by 
an  increase  of  China's  military  power.  It  should  be 
noted  in  this  connection  that  Japanese  military  instruc- 
tors are  not  considered  by  the  Chinese  the  best  suited  to 


226  THE     COMING    CHINA 

their  present  needs;  because,  like  their  civilian  congeners, 
they  are  too  much  given  to  an  effort  to  instil  an  admira- 
tion for  their  own  rulers  and  all  things  Japanese.  This 
tendency  is  looked  upon  with  grave  suspicion.  This 
same  observer  expresses  the  same  dissatisfaction  with 
the  Japanese  schoolmasters  that  has  been  given  already. 
With  somewhat  strange  inconsistency,  however,  he 
affirms  that  the  Chinese  do  not  hate  Christianity,  and  are 
even  tolerant  of  Christian  missions,  although  they  are 
disposed  still  to  dislike  them,  "because  Christianity 
is  the  religion  of  the  military  races,  and  they  had  an 
historical  tradition  that  the  advance  of  Christianity 
was  connected  with  war."  For  when  the  question  is 
which  miHtary  instructors  are  likely  to  do  the  best  for 
China  and  probably  will  not  have  designs  upon  her 
integrity,  the  choice  is  given  to  the  Europ>ean  nations, 
who  are  Christian,  rather  than  to  Japan  that  is  nearer 
China  in  the  matter  of  religion,  for  the  intentions  of 
Japan  are  more  than  open  to  suspicion;  and  what  a 
tempting  prize  to  Japan  is  that  great  empire  of  China, 
with  natural  resources  so  far  ahead  of  what  Japan 
possesses,  with  a  population  that  is  courteous  to  a  degree 
beyond  comparison  with  the  Japanese;  industrious,  pa- 
tient, cheerful,  contented,  and  obedient;  for  obedience 
in  China  is  a  word  that  connotes  far  more  than  it  does 
in  Japan.  It  means  obedience  to  the  Emperor,  to  the 
parent,  to  the  family  and  government,  although  the 
Japanese  have  the  reputation  of  being  singularly  marked 
in  this  trait.  The  annexation  of  the  Chinese  Empire  is ' 
something  more  than  a  dream  with  the  Japanese;  it  is  a 
growing  ambition.     The  writer  has  seen  a  map  called 


JAPAN     S     INFLUENCE  227 

"The  New  Great  Japan,"  upon  which  the  boundaries 
of  that  empire  are  made  to  include  Korea  (it  was  drawn 
before  the  annexation),  Manchuria,  practically  all  of 
Eastern  Siberia,  and  to  the  west  as  far  as  Lake  Baikal, 
and  aU  the  rest  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  Since  this  map 
was  not  published  secretly,  it  may  well  have  come  into 
the  hands  of  the  Chinese,  who  would  naturally  have 
their  worst  fears  confirmed  thereby,  although  it  is  un- 
necessary to  say  that  it  was  not  an  official  publication, 
yet  things  of  this  kind  do  not,  in  Japan,  spring  solely 
from  the  overwrought  imagination  of  an  individual. 

If  we  conclude  that  the  influence  Japan  is  now  exert- 
ing upon  China  is  not  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the 
older,  larger  nation,  and  inimical  to  the  good  of  the 
whole  world,  there  is,  nevertheless,  something  reassuring 
in  the  thought.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  when 
such  a  small  country  as  Japan  maintains  a  large  navy  and 
a  great  army,  these  armaments  must  be  made  use  of  in 
some  way,  or  the  people  who  are  called  upon  to  pay  for 
the  luxuries  will  rise  in  protest  against  the  needless  drain 
upon  their  purses.  Indications  of  a  desire  on  Japan's 
part  to  pursue  still  further  her  old  ambition  "to  make  the 
glory  of  Japan's  arms  shine  beyond  the  sea, "  are  unmis- 
takable. That  there  are  designs  upon  the  United  States 
may  be,  yet  it  seems  incredible  that  Japanese  statesmen 
could  be  so  foolish.  If,  however,  Japan  were  to  convince 
China  that  an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  with 
her  is  a  wise  thing;  and  if  then  she  could  persuade  her 
ally  to  join  in  aggressive  measures,  there  might  well  be 
good  grounds  to  apprehend  all  manner  of  disasters  from 
a  revised  and  strengthened  ''Yellow  Peril. "    That  there 


228  THE     COMING    CHINA 

is  no  such  probability  is  our  comfort.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  has  been  said,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  China  still  thinks  Japan's  army  and  navy  bode  evil 
for  her,  and  indications  of  late  seem  to  justify  that  appre- 
hension. The  ill-concealed  satisfaction  in  Japan  that 
China  seems  unable  to  find  a  competent  leader  at  this 
critical  moment  leads  us  to  suspect  that  this  national 
weakness  is  pleasing  because  it  must  operate  to  prevent 
that  consolidation  which  must  be  before  China  becomes 
what  she  should  be,  the  leading  Power  of  the  Far  East. 
If  Japan  means  to  strike  China  another  blow,  it  will  have 
to  be  done  before  there  is  consolidation,  and  before  the 
reorganization  —  where  now  there  is  simply  nothing  but 
chaos  —  is  brought  about,  and  that  probably  means 
within  the  next  five  or  six  years  at  the  longest. 


CHAPTER  X 

HOW   SHALL   CHINA    BEAR   HERSELF    TOWARDS 
OTHER   NATIONS? 

IN  1900,  Chang  Chih-tung,  quoting  from  the  ancient 
Classics  of  his  country,  said:  "If  a  man  will  not 
understand  in  what  misfortune  consists,  disgrace  is  sure 
to  follow;  but  if  he  will  only  face  the  difficulty  —  happi- 
ness will  come."  It  was  an  appreciation  of  the  apposite- 
ness  of  this  to  the  condition  of  his  own  country  which 
led  him  to  declare  that,  of  all  nations,  China  alone  has 
for  these  fifty  years  past  shown  herself  to  be  almost 
irreclaimably  stupid  and  unmindful  of  changing  condi- 
tions about  her,  which  demand  of  her  that  she  shall  take 
her  part  in  those  changes,  or  else  go  down  to  the  very 
depths  of  destruction.  He  could  find  not  one  man  of 
discernment  among  the  Chinese  ofi&cials,  no  real  scholar, 
no  competent  artisan;  China's  representatives  abroad 
were  incompetent  and  unable  so  to  represent  their  gov- 
ernment as  to  command  that  respect  to  which  China,  in 
his  opinion,  is  justly  entitled.  He  frankly  declared,  to 
the  amazement  and  consternation  of  his  fellow-country- 
men, that  "Old  Custom"  is  the  bugaboo  which  is  but  a 
password  to  lying  and  deceit  and  operates  as  an  obstacle 
to  desirable  progress.  This  eminently  progressive  official 
felt  that  China's  condition  —  when  he  wrote  his  blast 

229 


230  THE    COMING    CHINA 

against  the  apathy  and  conservatism  which  are  now 
hindrances  —  was  not  the  same  as  that  of  ancient  times. 
"When  Emperor  Chwang  Wang  of  the  Chou  Dynasty- 
lived,  696-681  B.C.,  he  exhorted  the  people  to  diligence 
and  they  responded,  so  that  the  neighbouring  countries 
—  Ts'i,  Tsin,  Ch'in,  and  Sung  were  intimidated  and  held 
in  check";  but,  nowadays,  Chang  Chih-tung  regretted 
to  be  compelled  to  say  that  all  was  confusion  and  no  man, 
from  emperor  or  regent  down  to  the  humblest  officer, 
appears  to  be  able  to  grasp  the  situation  and  mould  events 
to  China's  advantage.  "The  conservatives  offer  the 
people  food  which  they  have  no  ability  to  swallow;  the 
liberals  are  Hke  a  flock  of  sheep  at  a  point  where  the  road 
forks  in  many  directions,  and  which  is  the  right  one  to 
take  they  themselves  do  not  know,  so  of  course  they 
cannot  teach  the  people:  the  former  do  not  understand 
what  international  intercourse  means;  the  latter  are 
ignorant  as  to  what  is  radically  wrong  in  Chinese  affairs. 
The  conservatives  fail  to  appreciate  the  utility  of  modem 
military  methods  and  the  benefits  which  will  accrue  to 
China  if  successful  changes  are  brought  about;  while 
the  progressives  are  zealous  without  adequate  knowledge 
and  they  look  with  undisguised  contempt  upon  the  wide- 
spread influence  of  Confucius'  doctrine."  In  Chang's 
opinion  there  were  three  things  absolutely  necessary  to 
keep  China  from  a  revolution  that  will  tear  the  empire 
into  fragments  which  shall  be  picked  up  by  other  nations 
and  "The  Middle  Kingdom"  will  disappear  forever; 
these  three  things  are:  First,  to  maintain  the  reigning 
dynasty;  second,  to  conserve  the  holy  religion;  third, 
to  protect  the  Chinese  race.     Now,  when  it  is  known 


TOWARDS     OTHER     NATIONS  23I 

that  Chang  Chih-tung  was  a  true  Chinese,  not  a  Manchu 
at  all,  the  first  of  these  essentials  strikes  one  with  peculiar 
significance;  it  seems  to  contradict  the  statements  which 
have  been  made  hereinbefore,  that  the  Chinese  people  do 
not  respect  their  Manchu  rulers;  but  the  contradiction 
is  one  in  appearance;  there  never  was  a  forward  move- 
ment in  any  country,  one  that  sought  to  break  away 
from  the  deadening  influence  of  old  conditions,  without 
there  being  some  to  oppose  it.  All  residents  of  the 
thirteen  English  colonies  of  North  America  were  not  in 
favour  of  declaring  those  colonies  independent  of  Great 
Britain  in  1776.  If  Chang  Chih-tung,  a  Chinese, 
believed  that  to  uphold  the  reigning  dynasty  was  to 
strengthen  China,  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  had 
always  been  a  favourite  with  the  late  Empress  Dowager; 
this  does  not  impugn  his  patriotism,  but  it  does  admit 
that  his  views  on  this  point  were  warped.  As  for  his 
second  essential,  the  conservation  of  Confucianism,  no 
Western  student  of  comparative  religion,  be  he  priest 
or  layman,  can  possibly  endorse  that  statement,  nor  does 
it  gain  the  approval  of  the  leaders  in  China's  reform 
movement.  If  China  is  to  advance  at  all,  it  must  be  at 
least  somewhat  in  the  same  way  that  Europe  and  America 
have  advanced,  and  the  binding  fetters  of  superstition, 
the  dread  of  ghosts,  the  fear  of  what  evil  spirits  may  do, 
and  the  need  for  propitiating  the  spirits  of  good,  must 
be  forever  thrown  overboard.  For  the  third  essential, 
all  men  who  have  a  spark  of  sympathy  for  China  and  who 
wish  her  well  —  it  may  not  be  all  that  her  extremists 
desire  —  wish  heartily.  A  race  that  has  borne  the 
vicissitudes  of  four  or  five  thousand  years,  always  pro- 


232  THE    COMING    CHINA 

gressing  (in  its  own  way  that  is  scarcely  progress  to  us), 
cannot  be  allowed  to  disappear  or  to  be  completely 
overshadowed,  unless  for  some  graver  reasons  than  any 
which  have  been  given  by  the  most  rabid  of  those  who 
contend  that  China  has  outlived  her  usefulness;  that 
she  has  shown  no  such  adaptability  as  her  young  neigh- 
bour and  erstwhile  obsequious  pupil,  Japan,  has  evinced 
to  put  on  Western  civilization  and  to  advance  step  by  step 
with  those  of  us  who  claim  to  march  in  the  van.  Pah! 
The  veneer  of  modem  civilization  over  Japan  is  so  thin 
that  it  cracked  off  when  her  emperor  was  compelled  to 
realize  that  his  absolutism  was  resented  by  some  of  his 
own  "family!"  To  paraphrase  a  saying  ascribed  to 
Napoleon,  we  say:  "Scratch  a  Japanese,  with  all  his 
adaptation  of  Western  guns  and  battle-ships,  and  you 
will  find  a  Mongolian  more  backward  in  real  civilization 
than  a  good  Chinese." 

Must  the  reformed  and  reorganized  China,  for  which 
some  of  the  leaders  are  striving  so  vigourously  and  many 
of  the  common  people  looking  for  so  longingly,  neces- 
sarily be  such  a  change  from  that  which  has  been  as  to 
transform  the  land  and  the  people  into  something  un- 
recognizable? Hardly  so.  It  is  contended  by  some  of 
the  Chinese  publicists  that  already  there  is  much  about 
their  form  of  government  which  is  republican  to  all 
intents  and  purposes.  The  ancient  customs  practically 
meet  the  case.  If  the  government  encounters  difficult 
questions,  the  great  ministers  are  called  upon  to  help 
settle  them,  and  the  people  can  apprise  the  rulers  of  their 
needs  and  wants  through  the  appointed  channels;  they 
now  have  the  right  to  discuss  questions,  even  though 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS  233 

the  rulers  retain  the  prerogative  of  settling  them;  while 
this  adjustment  is  done  with  reference  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  all.  Therefore  it  is  asked  by  some,  who  are  pro- 
gressive without  being  reactionary,  why  is  a  Parliament 
demanded,  when  the  people  already  have  that  institution 
in  effect?  But  the  experiment  has  been  tried  and  the 
result  has  not  been  disastrous  failure.  The  responsi- 
bility of  government  has  been  in  a  way  put  upon  the 
people  of  China  and  it  is  for  them  to  decide  how  China 
shall  act  towards  other  nations,  if  the  latter  receive  her 
into  the  ranks  of  the  Great  Powers,  because  it  must  be 
as  such  or  not  at  all  that  China  takes  her  place,  for  she 
will  not  be  contented  with  second  place  even  in  the  Far 
East,  Japan  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  We  have 
never  known  the  Chinese  to  declare  their  intention  to 
dominate  the  Pacific,  to  rule  the  whole  world,  to  oppress 
those  whom  they  might  properly  call  their  former  oppres- 
sors, and  yet  we  know  very  well  that  Chinese  pride  will 
insist  upon  having  a  place  in  the  front  rank. 

The  main  objections  that  have  been  raised  to  the 
Chinese  being  an  active  integral  part  of  the  great  family 
of  nations  have  been  their  arrogant  superiority,  their 
conservatism,  their  immobility,  and  their  inability  to  see 
the  need  for  change.  These  defects  were,  after  all, 
merely  the  outgrowth  of  a  chain  of  events  three  thousand 
years  long.  The  first  of  the  faults  —  let  us  call  them 
such  for  momentary  convenience  —  could  hardly  have 
failed  to  be  because  of  the  admitted  inferiority  by  which 
the  Chinese  were  surrounded  on  all  sides,  possibly  except- 
ing the  south  where  physical  obstacles  prevented  freedom 
of  intercourse  with  what  might  have  been  recognized 


234  THE     COMING    CHINA 

as  a  civilization  comparable  with  their  own.  It  took 
much  less  than  thirty  centuries  to  make  "the  most 
polite  and  cultured  people  of  Europe,"  but  that  superior- 
ity did  not  long  stand  as  a  bar  to  the  recognition  of  others, 
as  being  entitled  to  respect.  That  the  Chinese  were  for 
so  long  the  very  consummation  of  conservatism  is  another 
thing  that  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise;  within 
their  own  borders  they  had  everything  which  was  neces- 
sary to  their  material  and  mental  well-being;  if  there 
were  some  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the  "holy  reli- 
gion," they  found  that  which  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years  was  sufficient,  the  imported  but  transformed 
Buddhism.  Their  manufacturers,  their  agriculturists, 
their  artisans  had  no  need  to  go  abroad  for  even  raw 
material,  everything  was  at  their  hand.  For  education, 
their  Classics  sufficed,  the  standard  being  admitted  as 
satisfactory  in  this  particular  case.  Their  government 
had  withstood  the  shocks  which  would  have  overthrown 
many  another  system  claimed  to  be  built  upon  stronger 
foundations;  their  social  system  was  admirable  in  many 
ways  and  objectionable  in  none  condemned  by  Oriental 
rules;  slavery  there  was,  yet  the  position  of  the  Chinese 
slave  never  approximated  the  horror  of  that  which  was 
forced  upon  such  unfortunates  in  other  parts  of  the  world ; 
while  the  only  effort  to  introduce  the  caste  system  of 
India,  that  by  one  emperor  centuries  ago,  was  promptly 
rejected  by  nobles  and  commoners  alike.  The  immo- 
bility of  the  Chinese  must,  we  suppose,  be  admitted, 
since  the  opinion  of  one  cannot  weigh  much  against  that 
of  hundreds,  and  yet  to  this  writer  the  progress  which 
differentiates  the  Chinese  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIOl^S         235 

century  from  their  ancestors  of  the  fifteenth  contradicts 
flatly  the  statement  that  China  shows  no  capacity  to 
move  on.  Much  the  same  thing  may  be  said  as  to  the 
charge  that  the  Chinese  were  unable  to  see  the  necessity 
for  change  in  their  customs  or  their  institutions.  The 
organization  of  one  steamship  company  and  one  insur- 
ance company  with  every  dollar  of  stock  taken  up  by 
natives,  is  enough  to  contradict  the  statement  as  to 
changelessness. 

But  now,  apparently,  the  Chinese  honestly  aspire  to 
become  a  part  of  the  world,  not  merely  in  it.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  old-time  Chinese,  that  world  consisted 
of  China  with  a  fringe  of  barbarous  states  surrounding 
it  on  all  sides,  and  a  few  httle  islands  called  by  uncouth 
names  {e.g.  England,  France,  Italy,  etc.)  in  the  narrow 
ocean  intervening  between  the  mainland,  that  is,  China, 
and  the  ultimate  confines  of  space.  One  must  now  go 
to  some  extremely  remote  place  in  China  if  he  would  find 
a  peasant  who  thinks  of  that  old  world,  who  does  not 
know  of  those  other  countries  called  properly  "Great." 
Into  the  uttermost  corner  there  has  gone  something 
brought  from  abroad,  something  useful  usually,  but  also 
something  ornamental  at  times.  The  old  vegetable-oil 
lamp,  or  crude  candle,  has  given  way  to  a  lamp  burning 
American  or  Russian  kerosene;  and  a  hundred  other 
evidences  of  the  intercourse  between  China  and  the  rest 
of  the  world  are  familiar  to  the  Chinese  of  the  interior. 
The  railways,  that  already  bring  a  semblance  of  the  steel- 
rail  gridirons  of  America  and  Europe,  have  already  fur- 
nished the  villagers  with  a  method  of  communication 
for  which  China  is  indebted  to  the  strangers  from  beyond 


236  THE     COMING    CHINA 

her  outermost  walls.  All  the  people  who  know  these  new 
things  by  acquaintance  or  by  use,  already  realize  that 
they  can  hardly  dispense  with  them;  on  the  contrary, 
they  must  increase  consumption  and  expand  railways, 
and  these  things  cannot  be  done  without  preserving  and 
expanding  intercourse  with  the  peoples  of  the  West,  It 
is  probable  that  no  one  desires  to  do  this  in  any  but  an 
amicable  manner,  and  amity  in  China  means  relations 
between  two  or  more,  just  as  it  does  anywhere  else. 
How  shall  the  intercourse  be  conducted  that  China  may 
gain  and  keep  the  respect  of  other  nations?  The  age 
is  commercial  everywhere  in  America  and  Europe,  and 
it  is  the  demands  of  commerce  which  are  now  the  incen- 
tive and  moving  causes  of  international  policies,  "vested 
interests, "  that  too  often  shape  the  policies  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  moral  or  altruistic 
movements.  The  questions  of  finance,  transportation, 
expansion,  colonial  policy,  the  propriety  or  difficulty  of 
opening  the  door  and  keeping  it  open,  politics,  dynasties, 
national  and  international,  —  all  things  that  affect  the 
supreme  issues  of  industry  and  commerce,  these  are  the 
things  that,  after  all,  give  excuse  for  the  maintenance  of 
armaments.  It  is  unhealthy,  wrong,  no  doubt,  but  it 
is  depressingly  true;  and  being  true,  it  is  as  necessary 
for  China  to  accept  her  share  of  the  responsibility  as  it 
is  for  us  in  ultra-commercial  America. 

Hence,  this  question  of  taking  up  her  part  and  becom- 
ing one  of  the  commercial  and  civilized  nations  is,  per- 
haps, the  first  thing  to  be  considered  in  discussing  how 
China  shall  conduct  herself  towards  other  nations.  The 
fact  of  being  a  part  naturally  implies  an  equality  of 


TOWARDS     OTHER     NATIONS  237 

rights.  These,  as  yet,  China  does  not  possess.  The 
treaties  she  now  has  with  all  other  Powers  preclude  it; 
they  are  not  drawn  in  terms  of  equality,  but  if  they  are 
to  be  revised,  China  must  prove  to  the  world  that  she 
is  quaUfied  to  receive  this  equal  treatment;  and  her  best 
friends  must  hesitate  before  they  claim  so  much  for  her. 
Consequently  there  is  the  imperative  necessity  for  a 
remodelling  of  laws  so  that  there  shall  be  in  all  parts  of 
the  Chinese  Empire  reasonable  protection  for  the  lives 
and  property  of  strangers;  to  guarantee  such  protection 
absolutely  is  beyond  the  power  of  any  known  govern- 
ment—  we  cannot  do  it  in  the  United  States;  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  France  cannot  do  so  —  mob-law 
asserts  itself  everywhere  at  times,  and  a  recrudescence 
of  the  Boxer  troubles  may  come  in  China,  just  as  anti- 
Chinese  riots  may  break  out  again  in  a  Western  mining 
camp  or  in  a  Pacific  Coast  city;  but,  other  things  being 
equal,  that  assurance  the  West  demands  of  China  before 
it  can  seriously  consider  the  revision  of  treaties  on  terms 
of  absolute  equahty.  This  is  no  disparagement  of 
China's  integrity  and  good  intentions;  a  perusal  of  Mr. 
T.  R.  Jernigan's  "China  in  Law  and  Commerce"  will 
convince  the  reader  of  the  necessity  for  radical  changes 
in  China's  codes  and  legal  regulations.  Particularly, 
it  may  be  remarked  that  the  United  States  of  America 
is  not  the  only  country  that  has  passed  and  enforced 
rigourously  Chinese  Exclusion  bills;  Japan  drew  the  new 
treaty  she  made  with  China  after  her  victory  in  1895 
upon  quite  as  strict  lines  as  we  have  ever  defined  — 
*'the  most  favoured  nation"  clause  was  expunged  and 
Chinese  labourers  are  not  permitted  to  land  in  Japan. 


238  THE     COMING    CHINA 

Next,  for  commercial  intercourse  to  be  protected  on 
truly  equal  terms,  China  must  have  the  right  to  deter- 
mine what  her  customs  tariffs  —  import  and  export  — 
shall  be,  and  this  brings  up  the  pregnant  question  of  the 
opium  trade,  but  that  will  be  somewhat  fully  discussed 
in  the  next  chapter.  At  present  China  has  not  tariff 
autonomy,  and  it  is  more  than  doubtful  if  she  is  quite 
qualified  to  say  just  what  she  will  do  in  this  matter;  but 
that  she  cannot  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  Great  Powers 
until  she  has  the  right,  needs  no  exposition.  She  must 
do  something  to  prove  that  she  may  be  left  to  arrange 
her  tariffs,  and  —  what  is  quite  as  important  to  her  — 
that  she  is  fully  and  satisfactorily  prepared  to  resume 
the  entire  management  of  her  customs  service.  A  ten- 
tative effort  in  this  direction  was  made  a  few  years  ago, 
but  the  conviction  that  the  time  had  not  yet  come  was 
too  strong  —  with  all  foreigners  and  with  the  wisest 
Chinese  statesmen  and  pubHcists  —  to  justify  putting  an 
experiment  into  the  form  of  permanency. 

The  present  system  of  judicial  procedure  in  China  is 
still  too  crude  to  justify  recognition  by  the  West;  that 
there  is  some  improvement  over  the  picture  which 
Williams  drew  about  i860,  cannot  be  denied,  but  still 
greater  changes  must  be  made.  Codes  must  be  drawn 
up  on  somewhat  the  same  terms  as  those  of  advanced 
nations,  and  the  machinery  of  courts  and  officers  must 
be  arranged.  This  will  take  some  time,  and  we  are 
inclined  to  think  that  when  once  the  task  is  undertaken 
it  will  be  done  more  thoroughly  —  but  probably  more 
slowly  —  than  it  was  done  in  Japan,  where  there  are 
even  now,  after  eleven  years  of  practice,  hardly  any 


TOWARDS     OTHER     NATIONS  239 

judges  with  adequate  knowledge  or  experience.  The 
peoples  of  the  West  are  not  wholly  guiltless  in  this  matter 
of  China's  backwardness  in  legal  procedure.  Save  in  a 
few  instances  of  exceptional  breadth  of  view  and  warmest 
sympathy,  the  effort  to  keep  from  the  Chinese  all  oppor- 
tunities to  become  familiar  with  Western  methods  of 
procedure  was  strong.  When  an  American  teacher 
undertook  to  translate  a  work  on  International  Law,  a 
French  diplomat  protested  vehemently  against  this 
effort  "to  let  the  Chinese  into  our  secrets!"  The  law 
courses  in  the  foreign  and  native  colleges  and  universities 
are  admirably  conceived  and  they  are  extremely  popular 
with  the  Chinese,  for  the  bent  of  mind  in  many  of  them 
is  strongly  in  that  direction,  so  that  it  is  confidently 
expected  a  few  years  will  bring  about  a  Bench  in  China 
that  need  not  yield  precedence  to  any.  Srill  the  convic- 
tion that  the  administration  of  justice  will  be  just  and 
impartial  must  be  exceptionally  strong  in  the  case  of 
China  before  we  can  entirely  trust  civil  cases  to  her 
judges. 

The  most  important  thing  of  all,  however,  is  a  general 
education.  In  order  to  qualify  for  a  place  in  the  society 
of  nations,  the  people  of  China  should  be  made  to  under- 
stand the  responsibility  they  take  upon  themselves. 
This  can  be  done,  we  think,  only  by  a  complete  trans- 
formation, that  is,  to  carry  out  thoroughly,  comprehen- 
sively, and  well  the  plan  which  has  been  formulated,  and 
in  some  provinces,  as  has  been  shown,  already  carried 
to  a  semblance  of  success.  To  accomplish  anything  like 
satisfactory  results,  it  is  manifest  that  both  moral  and 
financial  aid  must  be  rendered  by  China's  friends  abroad; 


240  THE     COMING     CHINA 

competent  teachers  in  large  numbers  have  to  be  supplied 
forthwith,  who  are  to  give  special  attention  to  the  training 
of  the  Chinese  men  and  women  to  qualify  them  to  take 
up  in  the  future  this  work  of  education,  until  China  can 
do  with  characteristic  thoroughness  what  Japan  has  done 
in  a  superficial  way,  dispense  with  the  service  of  foreign 
teachers  in  all  branches  except  languages.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  adaptability  and  receptive- 
ness  which  Chinese  students  have  shown,  both  in  a 
remote  past  when  the  French  Roman  CathoHc  mission- 
aries gave  instructions  in  mathematics  and  other  sciences, 
and  in  comparatively  recent  times,  since  so  many  yoimg 
Chinese  have  been  sent  abroad,  will  bring  speedy  and 
pleasing  results.  To  make  a  comparison  which  must 
necessarily  be  odious  to  the  Japanese,  it  has  been  found 
a  rule  almost  without  exception,  that  the  Chinese  stu- 
dents who  have  had  opportunity  to  study  in  America 
and  Europe  have  displayed  the  greater  thoroughness 
and  firmer  grasp  of  the  special  branches  to  which  they 
have  appUed  themselves. 

It  is  very  important  that  the  teachers  who  are  lent  to 
China  should  be  truly  typical  of  the  Christian  education 
they  represent;  it  may  seem  narrow  to  insist  that  such 
teachers  shall  be  professing  and  consistent  Christians, 
and  yet,  when  the  greatness  of  the  mission  entrusted 
them  is  considered, it  is  evident  that  none  but  strong  men 
and  women  should  be  sent.  Whether  they  go  as  pro- 
fessed Christian  propagandists  or  merely  as  lay  teachers, 
each  one  of  them  is  to  be  a  "missionary."  Their  lives 
are  to  be  examples  of  that  civilization  among  which  they 
were  bom  and  reared,  and  as  such  they  will  be  respected 


TOWARDS     OTHER    NATIONS  24I 

or  scorned  according  to  their  faithfulness  and  sincerity. 
Those  who  go  to  teach  science  and  the  higher  branches 
will  find  themselves  in  an  atmosphere  that  is  intensely 
stimulating  if  the  preparation  for  the  work  has  been 
thorough;  therefore,  such  must  be  highly  skilled  in 
Western  knowledge,  not  only  in  their  specialty  but  in 
science  generally,  for  the  incisive  questions  put  to  them 
will  be  a  severe  test.  Those  who  go  to  take  places  in 
educational  institutions  under  the  control  of  an  organized 
Christian  missionary  society  must  have  something  more 
than  the  special  qualification  for  their  own  branch; 
besides  being  skilled  in  Western  knowledge  generally, 
they  must  be  able  to  meet  in  debate  many  clever  disciples 
of  modern  followers  of  those  who  attack  Christianity; 
they  must  be  competent  to  discuss  sociology  with  disciples 
of  Herbert  Spencer  as  well  as  those  who  have  gone  astray 
in  their  efforts  to  follow  him;  they  must  recognize  the 
force  and  advantages  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  com- 
parative religion;  and  they  must  be  prepared  to  devote 
themselves  assiduously  to  the  study  of  the  Chinese 
language,  both  colloquial  and  written.  As  to  their  being 
all  the  time  examples  of  what  Christian  civilization 
means  in  the  daily  Hfe  of  its  professors,  it  is  needless  to 
enlarge  here.  Towards  the  right  persons  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  question  as  to  China's  fully  performing  her  duty. 
But  China  is  not  a  rich  country  save  in  its  natural 
resources.  There  are  some  enormous  fortunes  there,  it 
is  true,  but  the  masses  are  poor  with  a  poverty  which  no 
one  who  has  not  seen  it  and  felt  it  can  realize.  The 
districts  rarely  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have  public-spirited 
citizens  possessing  sufficient  means  to  undertake  the 


242  THE     COMING     CHINA 

expense  of  this  modern  education  that  is  being  called  for 
more  eagerly  day  by  day.  This  fact  must  be  taken  into 
consideration  for  some  time  yet,  and  if  there  is  sincerity 
in  the  wish  to  help  China  it  must  show  itself  in  generous 
contributions  of  money  to  provide  schools  and  colleges 
all  over  the  land.  It  need  not  now  be  feared  that  China 
will  fail  in  her  duty  as  to  appreciation  or  in  an  effort  to 
protect  the  property  endowed  by  these  contributions. 
Dr.  Sidney  L.  GuHck  in  "The  White  Peril  in  the  Far 
East"  has  said:  "There  is  perhaps  no  truer  sign  of  the 
essentially  provincial  character  of  the  self-centred  white 
people  than  their  failure  to  discover  and  appreciate  the 
noble  and  the  beautiful  in  the  great  civilization  of  the 
Orient.  We  have  been  blinded  to  these  by  the  selfishness 
of  our  hves,  the  greed  of  our  ambitions,  and  the  pride  of 
our  might."  If  these  weaknesses  are  overcome  in  China's 
interests  we  cannot  but  beUeve  that  the  appreciation 
shown  will  repay  many  fold  the  sacrifice  that  act  may 
entail;  and,  in  displaying  it,  China  will  be  mindful  of  her 
fullest  duty  to  the  West. 

But  there  is  everywhere  manifest  in  America  and 
Europe  an  apprehension  that  the  helping  of  China  to 
transform  itself  from  the  decadent  into  the  progressive 
stage  may  result  in  a  repetition  of  the  Mongol  invasion 
of  Europe;  and  that  that  invasion  will  not  only  go  West 
by  land,  to  overrun  the  whole  continent  of  Europe,  but 
will  spread  across  the  Pacific  to  possess  the  American 
continent  as  well;  and  that  Christian  civilization  will  be 
annihilated  in  the  onslaught.  Let  us  consider  for  a  little 
the  possibilities  and  probabilities  for  and  against  this 
concern  which  is  strangely  widespread.    That  there  is 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS  243 

little  to  say  for  it  may  be  taken  for  granted;  there  have 
not  yet  been  any  distinct  signs  that  China's  scheme  of 
reform  and  transformation  from  the  effete  to  the  Uving 
and  active  contemplates  such  a  movement.  There  has 
never  been  a  hint  of  a  desire  to  requite  the  harshness 
that  China  has  borne  from  Europe  in  the  past  with 
co-ordinate  treatment  in  the  future;  we  shall  search  in 
vain  if  we  look  for  expressions  of  a  desire  to  dominate 
merely  for  the  satisfaction  of  ruhng.  The  only  ground 
for  apprehension  is  the  commercial  and  industrial  one; 
but  that  is  serious  only  when  we  admit  that  commerce 
and  industry  in  China  have  been  brought  up  to  a  level 
with  conditions  in  Europe,  and  such  progress  in  that 
nation  and  among  its  people  means  such  a  radical  change 
in  every  habit  of  Ufe  as  to  eliminate  almost  absolutely 
the  power  to  compete  disastrously.  A  Chinese  official  * 
who  wrote  some  years  ago,  before  the  spirit  of  reform 
had  spread  throughout  his  people,  said:  "We  measure 
the  degree  of  civilization  not  by  accumulation  of  the 
means  of  living,  but  by  the  character  and  value  of  the 
life  lived.  .  .  .  Left  to  ourselves,  we  should  never  have 
sought  intercourse  with  the  West.  We  have  no  motive 
to  do  so ;  for  we  desire  neither  to  proselytize  nor  to  trade. 
We  believe,  it  is  true,  that  our  reHgion  is  more  rational 
than  yours,  our  morality  higher,  and  our  institutions 
more  perfect;  but  we  recognize  that  what  is  suited  to  us 
may  be  ill  adapted  to  others.  We  do  not  conceive  that 
we  have  a  mission  to  redeem  or  to  civilize  the  world,  still 
less  that  that  mission  is  to  be  accomplished  by  the 
methods  of  fire  and  sword,  and  we  are  thankful  enough 

*0p.  cit. 


244  THE    COMING    CHINA 

if  we  can  solve  our  own  problems,  without  burdening 
ourselves  with  those  of  other  people.  .  .  .  Economically, 
as  well  as  politically,  we  are  sufficient  to  ourselves. 
What  we  consume  we  produce.  And  what  we  produce 
we  consume.  We  do  not  require,  and  we  have  not  sought, 
the  products  of  other  nations;  and  we  hold  it  no  less 
imprudent  than  unjust  to  make  war  on  strangers  in  order 
to  open  their  markets.  .  .  .  You  believe  not  only  that 
your  religion  is  the  only  true  one,  but  that  it  is  your  duty 
to  impose  it  on  all  other  nations,  if  need  be,  at  the  point 
of  the  sword.  .  .  .  Commercial  intercourse  between  na- 
tions, it  was  supposed  some  fifty  years  ago,  would 
inaugurate  an  era  of  peace,  and  there  appear  to  be  many 
among  you  who  still  cling  to  that  belief.  But  never 
was  belief  more  plainly  contradicted  by  the  facts.  The 
competition  for  markets  bids  fair  to  be  a  more  fruitful 
cause  of  war  than  was  ever  in  the  past  the  ambition  of 
rulers  or  the  bigotry  of  priests.  The  peoples  of  Europe 
fling  themselves  like  hungry  beasts  of  prey  into  every 
unexploited  quarter  of  the  globe.  Hitherto  they  have 
confined  their  acts  of  spoliation  to  those  whom  they 
regard  as  outside  their  own  pale.  But  always,  while 
they  divide  the  spoil,  they  watch  one  another  with  a 
jealous  eye;  and  sooner  or  later,  when  there  is  nothing 
left  to  divide,  they  will  fall  upon  one  another.  That  is 
the  real  meaning  of  your  armaments;  you  must  devour 
or  be  devoured;  and  it  is  precisely  these  trade  relations, 
which  it  was  thought  would  knit  you  in  the  bonds  of 
peace,  which,  by  making  every  one  of  you  cut-throat 
rivals  of  the  others,  have  brought  you  within  reasonable 
distance  of  a  war  of  extermination."    When  it  is  remem- 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS  245 

bered  that  this  was  written  a  few  years  ago,  and  when 
reasonable  allowance  is  made  for  the  change  that  has 
come  over  just  such  statesmen  as  the  one  who  expressed 
himself  thus  —  a  change  which  contemplates  moral, 
commercial,  and  industrial  expansion,  not  an  aggressive 
military  one  —  there  seems  to  be  absolutely  nothing  in 
the  sentiments  expressed  which  warrants  undue  appre- 
hension; and  these  sentiments  are  precisely  those  of  all 
the  best  leaders  in  China.  Chang  Chih-tung  said: 
"Examine  the  history  of  China  for  two  thousand  years 
back  and  then  compare  it  with  the  Western  history  of 
fifty  years.  Does  the  government  of  those  foreign  coun- 
tries present  such  a  record  of  generosity,  benevolence, 
loyalty,  and  honesty  as  ours?  If  we  wish  to  make  China 
powerful  and  capable  of  resisting  foreign  nations,  we 
must  cherish  loyalty  and  righteousness  and  unite  our- 
selves under  the  Imperial  dignity  and  power.  This  is 
the  unchangeable  truth  of  the  past  and  present,  both 
in  China  and  abroad.  .  .  .  Let  us  wait  until  our  educa- 
tional institutions  are  in  full  swing,  and  the  capabilities 
of  our  own  institutions  are  tested  by  daily  experience, 
and  then  consider  the  matter  [of  Parliamentary  govern- 
ment]. The  present  is  not  the  time.  To  render  China 
powerful  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  our  own  institu- 
tions, it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  utilize  Western 
knowledge.  But  unless  Chinese  learning  is  made  the 
basis  of  education,  and  a  Chinese  direction  given  to 
thought,  the  strong  will  become  anarchists  and  the  weak 
slaves.  Then  the  latter  end  will  be  worse  than  the  former. 
English  newspapers  are  ridiculing  us  for  not  reforming, 
and  they  state  that  the  teachings  of  Confucius  lie  at 


246  THE    COMING    CHINA 

the  bottom  of  our  inflexible  conservatism.  This  is  a 
great  mistake.  The  translators  of  the  Four  Books  and 
the  Five  Classics  missed  the  true  intent  of  Confucius  by 
accepting  the  explanations  of  inejQ&dent  Chinese  instruc- 
tors who  knew  nothing  of  our  doctrine;  they  were  misled 
by  the  heresies  of  scholars  like  Han  Fei  and  Li  Sze, 
ofl&cers  under  Emperor  Ts'  in  (225  B.C.)."  In  advocating 
the  organization  of  a  Chinese  army  and  navy  upon 
Western  principles,  not  for  aggressive  measures  but 
merely  for  defence  and  to  develop  a  certain,  to  him 
desirable,  quality  in  young  men,  he  advocated  a  most 
peaceful  course  of  study,  and  apropos  of  the  deficiencies 
in  education  he  wound  up  with:  "Confucius  says  J 
*  Know  what  shame  is  and  you  will  not  be  far  from  hero- 
ism,' and  Mencius:  'If  one  has  not  the  sense  of  shame, 
in  what  can  he  be  equal  to  other  men?'"  There  are 
many  other  Hke  expressions  by  Chinese  of  acknowledged 
ability  and  puissance;  and  the  sentiments  which  they 
all  affirm  do  not  seem  to  Justify  apprehension  that  an 
incursion  into  Europe  of  hostile  intent  is  remotely  con- 
templated. Indeed,  we  fail  entirely  to  find  in  anything 
written  or  said  or  done  by  Chinese  such  an  aggressive 
declaration  as  many  which  might  be  quoted  from  Japa- 
nese newspapers. 

But  those  who  attach  to  the  cry  "Another  Mongol 
invasion, "  when  China  has  trained  an  army  of  a  million 
or  two  million  men  and  equipped  it  with  all  the  best 
appliances  devised  by  Western  military  art,  and  joined 
forces  with  Japan  in  a  desolating  march  westward  and 
an  eastward  cruise  of  acquisition,  fail  to  take  into  con- 
sideration several  important  facts  which  tend  to  render 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS  247 

such  ,a  thing  simply  impossible.  The  devastation  de- 
scribed by  Howorth  and  given  in  popular  style  by  De 
Quincey,  was  not  wrought  by  Chinese,  properly  speaking 
—  indeed,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  hordes  which  swept 
far  away  into  the  very  West  of  Europe  there  were  no 
true  Chinese  at  all  —  for  "The  Mongols  were  expelled 
by  the  Chinese"  is  a  statement  made  in  every  history, 
and  it  is  improbable  that  the  conquerors  would  then  ally 
themselves  with  the  army  of  the  conquered  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extending  the  Mongols'  conquests.  The  latter 
could  not  have  induced  the  Chinese  to  go  with  them  had 
they  tried;  to  have  attempted  to  engage  the  Chinese  as 
mercenaries  is  a  thought  not  justified  by  records;  while 
to  have  tried  compulsion  would  doubtless  have  resulted 
in  further  disaster.  That  Mongol  invasion  was  precisely 
what  the  title  implies,  and  from  the  time  when  the  power 
of  the  Mongols  was  broken  by  the  Chinese  General, 
Chao  Yuen-Chang,  afterwards  Emperor  T'ai  Tsu  (Hong 
Wou),  first  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  there  has  been  nothing 
in  the  acts  of  the  Chinese  to  arouse  apprehension.  The 
scattered  tribes  of  Mongols  are  under  more  or  less  com- 
plete control  and  are  carefully  watched  by  the  Chinese 
or  the  Russian  Government — so  that  there  is  no  danger 
of  a  leader  appearing  among  them  who  could  wear  the 
mantle  of  Genghis  Khan.  Then,  too,  it  must  be  re- 
membered how  completely  changed  are  conditions  now; 
when  the  Mongols  swept  down  into  Southwestern  Asia 
and  drove  the  Mahommedans  before  them,  thereby  con- 
tributing to  the  establishment  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 
in  Europe,  and  again,  when  a  few  centuries  later  they 
came  as  one  of  the  Scourges  of  God  into  Europe,  there 


248  THE    COMING    CHINA 

was  no  possibility  of  co-operation  and  conjunction,  such 
as  now  would  assuredly  set  at  rest  all  differences  between 
the  Powers  of  Europe  were  another  "Mongol  invasion" 
threatened.  In  working  themselves  up  to  what  those 
who  know  conditions  in  the  Far  East  from  actual  observa- 
tion feel  to  be  an  undue  state  of  nervous  anxiety,  people 
refuse  to  take  cognizance  of  the  advanced  state  of  that 
very  part  of  Asia  from  which  such  an  incursion  would 
necessarily  start,  and  of  the  extensive  territory  through- 
out which  it  would  have  to  pass  before  reaching  a  point 
where  its  object  could  be  attained.  The  difficulty  which 
the  Russian  Government  experienced  in  transporting 
troops  and  munitions  of  war  to  Manchuria  only  six  and 
seven  years  ago  was  enormous,  and  yet  it  was  all  the 
time  working  within  its  own  domains  where  there  was 
no  enemy  to  molest  or  impede.  Even  after  crossing 
the  Manchurian  frontier  there  was  no  obstacle  imposed 
by  an  opponent.  If,  however,  a  Chinese  army,  or  let  us 
say  a  combined  Chinese  and  Japanese  army,  should  be 
mobilized  on  the  Siberian  frontier,  or  even  at  the  extreme 
northwestern  Kmits  of  Outer  Mongolia,  in  Uliasutai, 
with  the  intention  of  marching  down  the  valley  of  the 
Irtish  River  on  its  way  to  carry  out  another  "Mongol 
invasion"  of  Europe,  the  obstacles  which  might  readily 
be  put  in  its  way  would  be  simply  insuperable;  and  any 
competent  strategist  must  surely  laugh  in  his  sleeve  at 
the  idea  of  such  an  army  of  invasion  ever  reaching  so  far 
as  the  boundary  betWeen  Asia  and  Europe.  A  very 
good  but  brief  description  of  an  old-time  Chinese  army 
is  extracted  from  N.  G.  Pauthier's  "La  Chine"  (1830); 
it  was  that  of  T'aiTsong  the  Great  of  the  T'ang  Dynasty 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS         249 

(a.d.  627-650) :  "The  military  was  drawn  up  after  a  new 
fashion.  It  was  divided  into  895  corps  of  the  same  name, 
but  of  three  different  ranks.  Those  of  the  superior  rank 
consisted  of  1200  men  each;  those  of  the  intermediary 
of  1000  men  each;  and  those  of  the  inferior  of  Sod  men 
each."  Boulger  {Op.  cit.)  adds:  "This  force  gave  an 
approximate  total  of  900,000  men:  634  of  these  regi- 
ments were  retained  for  service  within  the  frontier,  and 
to  the  261  remaining  was  allotted  the  task  of  guarding 
the  western  frontiers.  It  was  not  considered  desirable 
to  entrust  the  guarding  of  the  capital  and  palace  to  any 
special  force,  and  this  service  was  performed  now  by  one 
corps  and  again  by  another  at  the  command  not  of  the 
Ministers  but  of  the  Tribunal  of  War.  Chinese  armies 
had  at  the  best,  up  to  this  point,  been  little  more  than  a 
raw  militia,  and  in  their  constant  struggles  with  their 
Tartar  neighbours  it  had  been  always  an  admitted  fact 
that  the  Chinese  soldier  was  the  inferior  of  his  opponent. 
T'ai  Tsong  resolved  to  remedy  this  defect,  and  to  make 
the  Chinese  soldier  individually  the  match  for  any  antag- 
onist he  would  be  likely  to  encounter.  In  this  he  had 
to  overcome  first  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  lettered 
classes,  who  thought  the  duties  of  a  military  commander 
derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  Emperor."  Although 
it  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  the  raw  material  in  China 
is  susceptible  of  being  trained  into  a  good  fighter,  yet  we 
are  incKned  to  think  the  old  prejudice  against  the  pro- 
fession of  arms  will  still  assert  itself  and  be  something  of 
an  obstacle  to  overcome  by  any  commander  who  would 
aspire  to  bring  about  another  "Mongol  invasion." 
If  we  distinguish  between  "Mongol   invasion"  and 


250  THE    COMING    CHINA 

"Yellow  Peril"  and  think  of  the  former  as  being  in  the 
main,  if  not  altogether,  an  aggressive  warlike  move,  and 
of  the  latter  as  a  competition  in  commercial  and  indus- 
trial matters,  we  must  still  remember  that  whether  or 
not  China  recognizes  a  duty  towards  other  nations  in  this 
respect,  it  will  exist  nevertheless.  What  China  now 
contemplates  is,  we  are  to  understand,  a  complete 
reform  in  government  and  education,  commerce,  industry, 
army,  and  all  other  details.  Doubtless  she  has  had  in 
her  mind  the  expansion  of  Japan,  although  it  is  equally 
certain  that  no  longer  does  China  accept  Japan  as  her 
model.  If  then  she  follows  that  hne  she  must  equally 
accept  the  responsibilities  and  results.  Before  Japan 
became  obsessed  with  the  madness  for  foreign  wars, 
because  there  has  never  been  any  incontestable  reason 
for  Japan  to  engage  in  any  one  of  them,  her  progress  had 
gradually  brought  the  penalty  of  having  to  pay  for  her 
Westernization.  The  expense  of  hving  had  already 
slowly  but  surely  climbed  upwards  until,  in  1894,  it  was 
decidedly  greater  than  it  had  been  in  1872.  After 
Japan's  success  against  China  in  her  first  proper  foreign 
war,  came  the  inevitable  expansion  and  extravagance, 
and  corresponding  increase  in  the  cost  of  living.  Since 
1905  the  jumps  upwards  have  been  so  enormous  that 
to-day  there  is  not  a  country  in  Europe,  possibly  except- 
ing Russia,  although  statistics  are  not  available  to  deter- 
mine this,  where  the  three  classes,  upper,  middle,  and 
lower,  cannot  live  for  much  less  than  their  confreres  in 
Japan ;  while  even  in  this  so-called  expensive  and  extrav- 
agant United  States,  it  is  quite  possible  for  any  man  in 
any  class  to  live  well  for  less  than  a  native  of  Japan  can 


TOWARDS     OTHER     NATIONS  251 

do,  and  for  about  three-fourths  of  what  he  will  pay  to  be 
comparatively  as  comfortable  in  that  land  as  at  home. 
In  this  view  of  the  case,  it  becomes  imperative  for 
China  to  consider  seriously  to  what  goal  this  pathway 
of  reform  will  lead  her,  and  how  she  shall  comport  herself 
towards  other  nations.  We  feel  convinced  that  the 
aggressively  mihtary  feature  may  be  ignored;  and  in 
industry  and  commerce  there  must  be  so  much  assistance 
rendered  by  friends,  if  any  appreciable  success  is  achieved, 
that  anything  but  wise  consideration  will  defeat  the 
object.  In  the  nature  of  things,  it  must  be  such  a  long 
time  before  the  products  of  China's  factories  can  come 
into  such  successful  competition  with  similar  goods  in 
America  and  Europe  as  to  be  rivals  to  dread,  that  prob- 
ably it  is  borrowing  trouble  to  think  seriously  of  the 
contingency.  Labour  is  now  absurdly  cheap  in  China, 
it  is  true ;  but  it  is  the  kind  that  does  not  cut  any  figure 
in  serious  commerce  and  industry,  and  by  the  time  the 
reforms  contemplated  have  been  carried  out,  conditions 
are  so  almost  certain  to  change  as  to  strike  out  this  factor 
of  cheap  labour.  It  is  claimed,  and  doubtless  with 
reason,  that  there  has  been  a  great  expansion  of  manu- 
facturing industry  in  China  and  that  for  the  products 
of  the  factories,  etc.,  there  must  be  found  an  outlet 
abroad;  but  we  fail  to  see  that  this  is  borne  out  by 
statistics.  The  changes  in  domestic  economy,  which  have 
been  brought  about  by  the  developments  of  the  last  ten 
years  or  so,  have  been  rather  in  the  Kne  of  increasing 
internal  wants,  and  it  is  nominally  these  that  the  new 
industries  are  supplying;  this  expansion  of  local  demands 
is  likely  to  increase  faster  than  the  supply. 


252  THE     COMING    CHINA 

To  the  careful  political  economist  the  relations  between 
China  and  the  United  States  must  appear  to  be  strangely 
anomalous.  On  her  side  is  the  grievance  of  discrimination 
against  her  people  of  the  agricultural  and  labouring 
classes,  and  this  is  about  the  only  one  which  demands 
either  relaxation  so  that  Chinese  shall  be  treated  as 
immigrants  entering  the  United  States  from  any  other 
part  of  the  world,  especially  the  Japanese,  or  continued 
enforcement  with  the  consent  of  the  party  discriminated 
against.  For  China  there  is  the  obligation  to  support 
as  well  as  she  can  the  effort  the  United  States  has  made 
to  assist  her ;  this  effort  admits  of  four  specific  statements : 
First,  The  Hay  Agreement  acceded  to  by  the  Powers  at 
the  time,  1899,  by  which  the  principle  of  China's  poHtical 
integrity  and  the  "Open  Door"  was  formulated  into  an 
international  covenant;  second,  the  refusal  of  the  United 
States  to  the  imposition  in  1901  of  an  oppressive  indem- 
nity upon  China  as  compensation  for  the  murder  of 
foreigners  and  the  destruction  of  property  at  the  time 
of  the  Boxer  uprising,  which  would  have  made  her  the 
fiscal  vassal  of  the  other  nations  for  an  indefinite  period; 
third,  the  action  of  the  United  States  in  1904  in  inducing 
the  belligerent  Powers,  Russia  and  Japan,  to  confine 
hostilities  to  a  definite  region,  that  is  the  three  Manchu- 
rian  provinces,  in  order  to  limit  the  devastating  results 
of  the  war  upon  Chinese  inhabitants,  and  to  prevent  the 
further  embroilment  of  China;  fourth,  the  action  of 
President  Roosevelt  in  using  his  influence  to  terminate 
the  war  between  Japan  and  Russia  and  to  secure  the 
definite  assent  of  those  nations,  in  their  treaty  of  peace, 
to  the  restoration  of  Manchuria  to  China,  to  the  doctrine 


TOWARDS    OTHER    NATIONS  253 

of  the  "Open  Door,"  and  to  the  territorial  integrity  of 
China,  Excepting  the  matter  of  the  "Open  Door"  in 
those  parts  of  her  empire  over  which  China  has  been  able 
to  maintain  her  sovereign  rights,  there  has  not  been 
successful  effort  made  by  her  to  support  the  United 
States  in  carrying  out  any  of  these  provisions.  It  is 
true  that  superior  force  has  seemed  to  make  it  impossible 
for  her  to  do  differently  from  what  has  been  done,  yet, 
if  the  United  States  were  to  withdraw  the  helping  hand, 
it  would  simply  be  because  China  has  displayed  unpar- 
donable weakness. 

Beyond  all  these  matters  in  which  it  is  important  that 
China  shall  amend  her  ways  in  dealing  with  other  nations, 
or  institute  and  carry  out  new  ones,  is  the  necessity  for 
tearing  out  root  and  branch  the  slavish  obedience  to 
"Old  Custom."  In  this,  more  than  any  other  people 
of  the  world,  the  Chinese  are  tied  down  by  superstition; 
if  once  the  fact  that  a  certain  thing  of  most  palpable 
inconsequence  was  shown  to  conform  to  custom  that  had 
come  down  from  hoary  antiquity,  it  had  been  almost 
impossible  to  do  away  with  it  or  to  amend  it  radically. 
That  China  is  not  absolutely  unique  in  this  crass  obedi- 
ence to  "Old  Custom"  does  not  require  any  demonstra- 
tion; everybody  knows  the  story  of  the  sentry  who  was 
posted  in  an  open  field,  day  and  night,  and  relieved  as 
regularly  as  the  citadel  guard  was  changed,  because  half 
a  century  before  some  lady  of  the  Court  had  found  a 
beautiful  wild  flower  growing  at  that  spot  and  demanded 
protection  for  the  fragile  plant;  the  original  reason  had 
long  been  forgotten,  but  the  "  Old  Custom  "  was  respected. 
In  China  this  respect  for  that  which  the  ancients  had 


254  THE     COMING  CHINA 

found  good  was  a  benumbing  power,  and  is  still  an 
obstacle;  but  that  it  is  absolutely  irremediable  has  been 
proved  not  to  be  true,  because  probably  no  superstition 
was  ever  more  deeply  implanted  and  more  vigourously 
nourished  than  "Fung-Shui,"  and  that  has  been  done 
away  with  whenever  it  appeared  as  an  obstacle  to  the 
laying  out  of  a  railway  line.  Still,  there  are  other  "Old 
Customs"  which  are  yet  obstacles;  if  people  who  desire 
to  be  classed  with  the  " Great  Powers"  cling  to  the  whole 
teachings  of  Confucius;  if  they  are  dominated  by  igno- 
rant Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests;  if  they  cling  to  their 
old  education  and  insist  that  what  that  teaches  of  geog- 
raphy, history,  mathematics,  and  the  like,  is  all  suflS- 
cient;  if  the  laws  of  sanitation  are  ignored;  if  adequate 
facility  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  maimed  is  not 
provided;  if  girl  babies  are  thrown  away  because  they 
are  not  worth  raising;  if  a  hundred  other  things  are  done, 
simply  because  ancestors  had  done  them,  there  can  be 
no  respectful  consideration  expected  from  other  peoples. 
To  her  friends  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  it  is  China's 
duty  to  work  reformation  in  these  matters,  if  she  expects 
to  be  received  by  them  on  terms  of  equality.  Dynastic 
changes  —  constitutional  government  —  full  representa- 
tion of  the  masses,  readjustment  of  codes,  are  important, 
certainly,  but  they  are  like  the  massive  blocks  in  the 
foundation  of  a  stately  edifice,  which,  after  all,  depend 
for  their  strength  upon  the  character  of  that  on  which 
they  rest;  if  this  is  soHd  rock  it  is  because  the  particles 
are  cohesive;  if  it  is  soil  it  is  because  the  grains  are 
tenacious;  it  is,  after  all,  the  "little  things"  in  China 
that  demand  attention  if  a  right  conception  of  duty  is 


TOWARDS     OTHER     NATIONS         255 

to  be  attained.  When  reform  that  is  imperative  has 
been  started  in  these  duties,  it  would  follow  almost  as  a 
matter  of  course  that  it  will  pass  on  to  those  larger  ones 
which  seem  to  be  of  greater  importance  in  international 
relations.  How  China  should  bear  herself  towards  other 
nations  is  a  subject  that  demands  a  whole  volume  to 
itself,  and  it  requires  the  combined  knowledge  of  the 
ablest  experts  in  diplomacy,  religion,  commerce,  sociol- 
ogy, and  the  arts  of  peace  and  war  to  treat  it  properly; 
nothing  more  than  a  bald  suggestion  has  been  attempted 
here. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   DUTY   OF    THE    UNITED  STATES    TOWARDS 
CHINA 

IN  a  certain  way  this  subject  has  already  been  touched 
upon  at  places  throughout  the  text  of  the  preceding 
chapters.  A  brief  resume  of  some  points  seems  pertinent 
and  in  conclusion  we  shall  speak  at  some  length  and  with 
much  emphasis  about  what  is,  undoubtedly,  the  greatest 
duty  of  all:  to  help  China  rid  herself  of  the  opium  curse. 
In  every  essential,  the  foreign  poHcy  taken  by  our 
government  is  the  only  one  which  consistently  entitles 
it  to  support  the  doctrine  of  the  ''integrity  of  China" 
without  danger  of  being  suspected  of  insincerity  or 
territorial  ambition.  The  first  treaties  made  by  our 
representatives  with  both  China  and  Japan  were  based 
upon  conditions  obtaining  at  the  time,  and  almost  from 
necessity  contained  the  "extra-territorial"  clause.  To 
this,  at  that  time,  no  serious  objection  was  made  by 
either  Chinese  or  Japanese  ofiicials  who  took  part  in  the 
preliminary  negotiations.  In  both  countries  there  was 
a  feeling  of  relief  on  the  part  of  the  native  authorities 
that  responsibility  for  tr)dng  and  punishing  criminals 
of  outside  nations  was  taken  from  them;  and  this  is  not 
surprising  when  we  remember  how  loud  were  the  com- 
plaints made  in  the  few  cases  which  had  been  treated  as 
native  law  provided.    Even  in  Japan,  although  there 

256 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       257 

was  subsequently  a  loud  protest  that  this  "extra-terri- 
torial" jurisdiction  had  been  wrung  from  them  most 
unfairly,  it  is  easily  proved  that  there,  too,  it  was  a  con- 
dition favourably  received  at  the  outset.  The  United 
States  was  the  first  to  consent  to  Japan's  wish  to  revise 
the  treaty  and  —  among  other  amendments  —  ehminate 
this  objectionable  clause;  but  it  was  made  a  stipulation 
that  satisfactory  demonstration  should  be  made  of 
changed  conditions  which  should  justify;  these  having 
been  provided,  the  promise  was  faithfully  kept.  The 
United  States  stands  prepared  to  do  the  same  thing  — 
whether  the  other  Great  Powers  join  or  refuse  —  with 
China  upon  the  same  stipulation,  agreement,  and  con- 
summation; for  the  American  conception  of  the  paternal 
relation  of  Western  to  Orient  nations  is  not  incompatible 
with  the  development  by  them  of  a  genuine  autonomy. 
If  Japan's  demonstration  of  the  correctness  of  this  con- 
ception has  not  proved  perfectly  satisfactory  to  all, 
that  is  something  for  which  the  United  States  is  not 
responsible,  and  it  does  not  vitiate  the  correctness  of  her 
reasoning;  although  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  giving 
up  everything  to  the  Japanese,  we  have  received  very 
little  in  return. 

In  China  the  evidence  of  government  weakness  after 
the  Opium  War,  the  "Arrow"  War,  the  Taeping  Re- 
bellion, and  that  which  culminated  in  the  "Boxer" 
Insurrection  was  discouraging;  but  when  that  feeHng  of 
dissatisfaction  began  to  pass  away,  as  it  did  more  than 
ten  years  ago,  there  came  in  its  stead  a  conviction  that 
the  present  agitation  in  China  is  not  a  transient  or  super- 
ficial discontent,  but  a  veritable  part  of  the  new  awaken- 


258  THE     COMING    CHINA 

ing  of  the  East  —  of  which  reflections  are  to  be  detected 
in  many  other  countries;  or,  perhaps,  it  is  more  correct 
to  say  that  the  advanced  movements  in  China,  and  those 
other  Eastern  lands,  are  reflections  of  Japan's  forceful 
pushing  to  the  front.  We  beheve,  however,  there  is  a 
marked  difference  with  respect  to  China;  and  that  is 
that  the  advance  is  likely  to  be  unaccompanied  by  any 
great  display  of  aggressive  military  ability,  since  the 
Chinese  are  essentially  peaceful,  while  the  Japanese  are 
notoriously  fond  of  war  for  the  sake  of  the  bustle  and 
slaughter  it  brings,  rather  than  for  the  results  it  may 
accomplish. 

That  the  expectation  of  success  in  China's  effort  to 
inaugurate  a  change  conformable  to  the  progressive 
ways  of  the  West  has  already  received  encouragement 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  way  the  first  Provisional  Parliament 
was  conducted  at  Peking.  The  assembUng  of  this  body 
was  done  in  a  tentative  way  and  completely  satisfactory 
results  could  hardly  have  been  expected,  yet  the  Senate's 
action  upon  several  matters  indicates  a  pleasing  sense  of 
responsibility  and  also  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some 
of  the  Chinese  people  to  know  more  than  has  ever  yet 
been  imparted  to  them  of  the  conduct  of  affairs,  the 
raising  of  revenue,  and  the  disbursing  of  public  funds. 
In  a  way,  this  assemblage  appeals  to  the  American 
citizen  who  looks  back  to  a  period  in  the  early  history  of 
his  country,  and  it  seems  as  if  support  in  this  effort  to 
make  China  a  nation  rather  than  an  irresponsible  mon- 
archy should  be  cheerfully  rendered. 

If  England  was  first  to  exploit  the  China  Mission 
Field,  the  example  set  has  been  so  admirably  followed 


UNITED    STATES     TOWARDS    CHINA       259 

by  America  as  to  win  loud  praise  from  Englishmen 
themselves;  and  there  is  entire  agreement  between  the 
evangelical  representatives  of  the  two  English-speaking 
peoples  and  the  leaders  in  Christian  civilization,  that 
China  offers  the  greatest  and  most  promising  field  for 
Christian  propaganda  in  the  whole  world.  The  im- 
portance, even  sociologically  considered,  of  this  move- 
ment to  the  average  student  of  oriental  affairs,  is  not 
properly  appreciated.  It  is  beyond  dispute  that  the 
influence  which  Protestant  missions  exert  in  China  is 
the  most  potent  one,  even  if  it  be  silent,  for  the  removal 
of  race  misunderstandings  and  prejudices  and  for  the 
upbuilding  of  the  era  of  good-will  between  the  white  man 
and  the  yellow  man.  One  of  the  many  duties  is  thus 
suggested,  and  there  is  little  danger  that  the  United 
States  will  be  derelict;  we  have  not  put  our  hand  to  that 
plough  to  turn  back;  and  hand  in  hand  with  it  goes  the 
parallel,  if  not  equal,  duty  in  the  matter  of  general  edu- 
cation. 

China's  appeal  for  assistance  in  carrying  out  radical 
changes  in  the  educational  system  and  expansion  of  the 
proposed  new  one,  finds  ready  response  in  America,  and 
pleasing  promises  have  been  made  of  aid  in  money  and 
in  teachers.  In  this  matter,  however,  caution  should 
be  observed;  if,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  controlling 
voice  in  the  conduct  of  this  educational  expansion, 
especially  in  the  higher  branches,  is  to  be  given  to 
Americans  and  Englishmen  acting  together;  it  is  not 
compatible  with  our  own  sense  of  dignity  to  acquiesce 
in  a  plan  to  allow  America  to  supply  all  the  funds,  because 
her  purse  is  so  plethoric,  and  let  England  administer  the 


26o  THE    COMING    CHINA 

affairs,  disburse  all  the  money,  and  appoint  her  own 
university  and  college  graduates  to  aU  the  posts  for 
teachers.  It  is  no  part  of  America's  duty  to  China  to 
make  herself  so  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  as 
this  confession  of  administrative  weakness  and  peda- 
gogic inefficiency  would  bring  about.  Such  a  claim  has 
been  made  by  those  who  profess  to  represent  the  move- 
ment in  England  for  the  educational  advancement  of 
China.  On  the  other  hand,  an  English  writer  has  said: 
"The  educational  conquest  of  China,  as  of  Japan,  is  a 
fact;  and  —  the  palm  to  her  who  merits  it  —  in  both 
cases  it  is  America  that  has  the  right  to  hold  it! "  That 
American  methods  of  teaching  Christianity,  science  — 
pure  and  applied  —  all  branches  of  higher  education, 
rudiments  of  all,  and  the  EngHsh  language  itself  are  in 
every  respect  coordinate  with  those  of  the  English 
teachers  in  China,  or  in  any  other  foreign  field,  is  a 
matter  to  be  decided  by  individual  conviction;  our  rep- 
resentatives have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  results. 
Faults  of  intonation,  accent,  and  locution  are  exactly  as 
six  and  half  a  dozen. 

The  new  national  curriculum  is  of  a  very  complete 
character  commencing  with  the  elementary  school  and 
ascending  in  stages  through  the  secondary,  the  middle, 
and  the  higher  schools  to  the  universities.  Already 
schools  and  colleges  in  each  grade,  but  of  varying  degrees 
of  efficiency,  to  be  sure,  have  been  established  in  most 
of  the  provinces.  Many  of  those  now  open  are  supported 
by  the  local  or  the  central  government,  but  there  are 
many  private  schools  which  must,  however,  conform  to 
the  national  standards  in  their  courses.     In  each  minor 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       261 

subdivision  of  a  province,  corresponding  to  the  Ameri- 
can township;  in  each  congener  of  the  American  county, 
and  in  each  province,  there  is  a  Board  of  Education, 
whose  duties  correspond  in  importance  with  the  size  of 
their  jurisdiction;  but  all  alike  are  under  the  authority 
of  the  National  Board,  a  department  of  the  central 
government  in  Peking.  There  are  only  three  or  four 
colleges  in  all  the  empire  that  have  reached  something 
comparable  with  a  university  standard,  and  the  number 
of  students  enrolled  is  still  very  small;  but  the  reason  for 
this  is  not  so  much  the  lack  of  young  men  who  would  like 
to  matriculate,  as  it  is  the  inability  to  supply  competent 
instructors.  If  present  plans  are  held  to,  there  will 
eventually  be  one  fully  organized  university  in  each 
province.  When  one  remembers  the  eighteen  provinces 
of  China  proper  (but  the  grand  educational  scheme  is 
not  necessarily  to  be  restricted  to  these);  that  each 
province  is  divided  into  so  many  coimties  that  there  are 
nearly  two  hundred  "prefectures,"  and  some  thousands 
of  townships;  the  mind  is  appalled  at  the  thought  of 
providing  teachers  for  all  the  schools  which  must  be 
opened  to  carry  out  such  a  contemplated  system  in  a 
hurry.  Besides  the  schools,  colleges,  and  universities 
in  the  regular  educational  scheme  there  are  to  be  con- 
sidered the  kindergartens,  as  well  as  special  and  techni- 
cal schools  for  which  also  teachers  must  be  provided. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  major  part  of  the 
schools  which  have  been  started  are  doing  very  elemen- 
tary work,  but  the  leaven  put  into  Chihzi  province, 
to  take  one  concrete  example,  is  diffusing  itself  out  into 
the  remoter  regions,  and  with  a  speed  that  is  amazing  to 


262  THE     COMING     CHINA 

those  who  think  of  China  only  as  the  conservative  place 
of  old.  The  financial  and  personal  difficulties  of  getting 
competent  teachers  have  been  the  most  serious  obsta- 
cles in  pushing  forward  the  consummation  of  the  plan; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance  given  by  those 
connected  with  the  Protestant  missions,  and  for  the  few 
natives  who  had  been  trained  in  those  mission  schools  and 
are  competent  to  do  even  the  most  modest  part  of  the 
work,  the  plan  would  not  have  been  carried  so  far  as  it 
has  gone.  The  educational  conquest  of  China  is  cer- 
tainly in  process  of  realization,  and  it  is  the  American 
educator  who  has  a  right  to  claim  the  lion's  share  of  the 
honour  that  present  success  confers;  but  it  will  be  a  sad 
neglect  of  duty  if  now  America  fails  to  grasp  the  oppor- 
tunity to  increase  her  honour  by  expanding  her  energies 
in  promoting  the  educational  reform  and  extension  of 
Western  education  throughout  the  whole  of  the  vast 
empire.  An  Englishman,  Mr.  W.  E.  Soothill,  principal 
of  Shansi  University,  has  truly  said  that  while  British 
missionaries  have  done  a  measure  of  valuable  service 
in  this  direction,  their  schools  have  been  few  and  shame- 
fully undermanned;  and  that  those  missions,  with  char- 
acteristic British  conservatism,  have  held  too  much  to 
the  idea  that  their  office  is  to  evangelize  and  heal,  and 
not  to  enlighten  the  mind.  The  American  has  applied 
himself  also  to  the  root  of  China's  pressing  temporal 
need,  and  spent  a  hundred  times  as  much  money  —  nay 
more  —  on  education  as  British  missions  have  done. 
It  was  wholly  due  to  the  influence  exerted  by  American 
missionaries  that  such  a  large  part  of  America's  share 
of  the  Boxer  indemnity — for  the  actual  expenditures  did 


UNITED    STATES     TOWARDS    CHINA       263 

not  entirely  reimburse  the  material  losses  sustained — was 
returned  to  China  for  the  purpose  of  using  the  money  in 
defraying  the  expenses  of  students  to  be  sent  to  Ameri- 
can colleges.  All  this  has  been  done,  but  it  cannot  be 
right  to  leave  much  more  undone.  If  America  realizes 
her  opportxmity,  there  is  no  serious  danger  of  a  lack  of 
appreciation,  as  is  now  noticeable  in  Japan;  to  Dr. 
Verbeck  must  be  accorded  the  credit  of  having  laid  the 
foundation  of  Japan's  educational  system;  but  in  the 
accounts  of  this  system  that  are  now  prepared  by  native 
writers,  either  the  effort  of  Verbeck  and  many  others  is 
calmly  ignored,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  D.  Kikuchi's  "Japa- 
nese Education,"  or  it  is  treated  as  a  matter  of  trifling 
importance.  China  will  not  follow  this  example,  we 
feel  sure;  and  what  is  also  to  be  considered,  although  it 
does  seem  rather  to  commercialize  philanthropy,  the 
gain  to  America  in  material  ways  is  likely  to  return 
ten-fold  what  magnificent  assistance  in  establishing  a 
great  educational  system  may  cost. 

But  the  assistance  that  the  United  States  can  and 
ought  to  render  China  in  religious  instruction,  general 
education,  manufacturing  and  industrial  development, 
railways,  and  all  other  branches,  is  as  nothing  compared 
with  what  is  an  absolute  obligation  in  the  matter  of 
opium,  if  we  are  to  uphold  our  reputation  for  civiliza- 
tion. Here  we  are  face  to  face  with  conditions  that 
cannot  be  evaded,  and  our  attitude  should  be  firm, 
irrespective  of  what  "vested  interests"  of  other  friends 
may  suffer.  The  story  of  the  opium  trade  between 
British  India  and  China,  of  the  development  of  the 
"smoking  habit"  amongst  the  Chinese,  of  the  dangerous 


264  THE    COMING    CHINA 

course  the  Chinese  Government  was  led  to  adopt  in 
sanctioning  the  cultivation  of  "home  opium"  —  an 
effort  to  wipe  out  the  curse — and  of  every  other  phase, 
is  entirely  without  one  aspect  that  does  not  arouse 
indignation,  sorrow,  or  sympathy  in  the  breasts  of  all 
except  those  who  have  sordid  motives  to  gratify  or  are 
callously  indifferent  to  the  mental,  moral,  physical,  and 
financial  welfare  of  over  three  million  people. 

The  Pun  Tsao,  "Chinese  Herbal,"  is  a  work  of  forty 
octavo  volumes,  and  such  Chinese  volumes  are  usually 
counted  as  running  three  to  one  of  our  own.  It  is 
admitted  to  be  a  work  of  some  value,  but  one  in  which 
a  vast  deal  of  nonsense  is  mixed  up  with  but  little  useful 
and  accurate  information.  The  compiler,  Li  Shi-chin, 
who  lived  in  the  sixteenth  century,  gave  some  thirty 
years  to  gathering  together  the  information  on  natural 
history  subjects  which  was  available,  and  this  he  ar- 
ranged in  a  reasonably  methodical  way  and,  for  his 
time  and  considering  the  knowledge  of  his  people, 
rather  scientifically.  Since  the  poppy  is  mentioned  in 
the  Herbal,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  assume  that  the 
plant  is  indigenous  in  China;  but  from  the  fact  that  the 
Chinese  have  no  true  word  for  opium  in  their  language, 
it  is  evident  that  the  drug  was  not  formerly  manufac- 
tured from  it  by  themselves,  and  that  until  the  Chinese 
made  its  acquaintance  through  importation  from  abroad, 
they  knew  nothing  of  it.  "The  drug  is  called  apien, 
in  imitation  of  the  word  opium,  while  the  plant  is  called 
afuyungj  a  transHteration  of  the  Arabic  name,  from 
which  country  it  was  brought  about  the  ninth  century. " 
(Williams.)     This  etymology  points  to  an  interesting 


UNITED    STATES     TOWARDS    CHINA       265 

phase  of  China's  commercial  relations  with  the  south- 
west of  Asia  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago;  because 
the  Arabs  do  not  smoke  opiimi,  but  eat  it,  and  the  force 
of  example  which  attended  its  importation  into  China 
probably  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Chinese  using  the 
drug  as  they  afterwards  did.  It  is  said  that  the  Chinese 
were  quite  familiar  with  this  smoking  habit  fifty  years 
before  Europeans  first  brought  Indian  opium  to  them. 
This  statement — so  far  as  it  suggests  something  ap- 
proaching a  general  use  in  that  pecuKar  way  —  is  dis- 
credited by  competent  authorities.  It  can  hardly  be 
possible  that  the  Chinese  acquaintance  with  opium  had 
developed  into  familiarity  so  long  ago  as  the  early  six- 
teenth century,  because  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  — 
who  were  in  that  country  from  1580  a.d.  onwards  — 
would  almost  certainly  have  mentioned  the  habit  of 
smoking  opium,  had  it  prevailed.  It  was  the  Portuguese 
who  did  most  of  the  importing  at  first,  but  in  1767 
the  quantity  had  reached  to  about  one  thousand  chests 
only.  In  1773  the  East  India  Company  took  part  in 
the  business  and,  with  varying  results,  kept  up  the 
importation  until  it  went  out  of  existence  in  1858.  In 
that  year  it  was  suspected  that  two  million  Chinese 
smoked  opium,  and  in  1906,  when  the  efforts  of  the 
government  really  began  to  assume  an  appearance  of 
seriousness,  a  most  conservative  estimate  puts  the  num- 
ber of  smokers  at  very  nearly  one-half  the  entire  popu- 
lation. One  who  has  visited  China  and  seen  the  effect 
of  the  opium-smoking  habit,  but  whose  sense  of  propriety 
and  consideration  for  others  have  not  been  blunted  by 
personal  interests,  becomes  impatient  at  reading  that 


266  THE     COMING     CHINA 

the  smoking  of  opium  by  the  Chinese  is  about  the  same 
sort  of  thing  as  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  in  other 
countries — not  specially  harmful  if  done  in  moderation, 
but  likely  to  prove  disastrous  to  the  individual  only  if 
the  appetite  is  indulged  to  excess.  There  are  no  coun- 
tries on  earth  where  alcohol  has  wrought  devastation 
in  whole  provinces,  where  once  prosperous  villages,  and 
even  small  towns,  are  now  mere  piles  of  rubbish,  where 
entire  families  have  been  actually  extinguished;  and 
these  things  have  been  done  by  opium  smoking  in  many 
parts  of  what  were  once  the  fairest  districts  of  China; 
for  in  China  as  in  India  the  best  land  is  given  up  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  poppy,  and  in  the  latter  country  fully 
six  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  rich  Ganges 
Valley  were  given  over  to  the  cultivation  of  the  poppy 
in  1907,  and  British  India  still  holds  the  championship 
(?)  in  the  industry,  for  Chinese  opium  cannot  compete 
in  quality  with  the  Indian  drug;  and  the  business  is 
worth  to  the  Indian  Government  twenty  million  dollars 
a  year  in  net  revenue;  for,  brushing  aside  all  attempts  at 
evasion  and  sickening  subterfuges,  that  business  is  a 
government  monopoly,  and  so  it  is  called  in  the  Official 
Records:  a  government  monopoly,  under  the  control  of 
the  "most  highly  civilized  Christian  nation  on  earth," 
that  draws  its  profits  from  the  very  hearts  of  the  poorest 
"heathen,"  for  India  exports  five-sixths  of  her  opium  to 
China.  There  is  a  curious,  and,  to  speak  plainly,  a  dis- 
gusting, mixture  of  lofty  dignity  and  grasping  avarice 
in  the  business;  the  government  monopoly  delivering 
the  chests  at  certain  marts,  and  at  the  China  ports  a 
motley  crowd  disposing  of  them  to  the  retailers  and 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       267 

consumers  "without  the  Company  being  exposed  to  the 
disgrace  of  being  engaged  in  an  illicit  commerce." 

The  best  opium-producing  gum  is  taken  from  a  poppy 
plant  that  has  a  nearly  pure  white  flower,  and  although 
there  are  blooms  of  other  colours,  it  is  from  the  white 
ones  only  that  seeds  for  replanting  are  taken.  The 
process  of  preparing  the  gum  into  marketable  opium, 
if  one  cares  to  read  about  it,  is  described  in  many  books, 
but  this  and  many  other  details  are  given  in  "Drugging 
a  Nation,"  by  Samuel  Merwin. 

Most  people  have  very  confused  notions  about  "smok- 
ing opium";  many  of  them  think  that  it  is  done  very 
much  as  a  man  smokes  his  tobacco  pipe,  not  stopping  to 
think  that  the  narcotic  effect  could  not  possibly  permit 
of  such  a  thing.  The  drug  has  to  be  carefully  prepared 
to  make  it  ready  for  the  smoker's  pipe;  the  balls,  as 
they  come  from  India  (or  the  interior  of  China,  it  may 
be),  are  stripped  of  their  covering  of  dried  leaves  and 
then  broken  into  little  pieces,  put  into  an  iron  pan 
filled  with  water,  and  allowed  to  boil  slowly  over  a  low 
fire,  the  scum,  which  rises  and  which  contains  whatever 
impurities  there  may  be,  being  carefully  skimmed  off 
and  saved  for  the  "poor"  smokers,  and  when  the  decoc- 
tion has  been  evaporated  to  the  consistency  of  thick 
treacle,  it  is  ready  for  use.  "Various  kinds  of  opium  are 
mixed  with  one  another,  and  some  shops  acquire  a  repu- 
tation for  their  ingenious  and  tasteful  blends.  After 
the  opium  has  been  boiled  to  about  the  consistency  of 
coal  tar  or  molasses,  it  is  put  into  jars  and  sold  for  daily 
consumption  in  quantities  ranging  from  the  fifteenth 
part  of  an  ounce  to  four  or  five  ounces."  (Rev.  T.  G. 


268  THE     COMING     CHINA 

Selby.)  The  following  description  of  the  way  of  smok- 
ing opium  is  a  combination  of  the  personal  observations 
of  the  writer  and  information  derived  from  various 
sources.  The  pipe,  expressly  made  for  this  purpose  and 
never  by  any  possibility  used  for  tobacco,  is  a  full  joint 
— or  even  more — of  bamboo  an  inch  or  so  in  diameter,  or 
more  frequently  a  tube  of  heavy,  precious  wood  which 
is  bored  through  with  a  very  small  orifice.  The  pipe  is 
sometimes  most  elaborately  carved  and  decorated  with 
inlays  of  jewels,  jade,  and  precious  stones;  there  is  no 
mouthpiece,  properly  speaking,  the  Hps  of  the  smoker 
being  pressed  against  the  broad,  flat  end  of  the  tube;  at 
the  opposite  end  is  a  cavity,  or  sometimes  a  separate  cup, 
into  which  fall  the  ashes.  The  bowl  for  the  opium  is 
made  of  earthenware,  of  an  ellipsoid  shape,  with  a  very 
small  rimmed  orifice  on  the  flat  side,  and  it  sets  down 
upon  the  hole.  The  rest  of  the  simple  paraphernaHa 
will  be  mentioned  at  the  proper  time.  The  opium 
smoker  always  lies  down,  and  the  impossible  picture  of 
"A  Mandarin  Smoking  an  Opium-pipe,"  dressed  in  full 
regaha  and  sitting  at  a  table,  and  another  of  a  man 
walking  in  the  street  with  a  large,  long  tobacco-pipe  in 
his  mouth  (which  action  itself  is  something  never  seen  in 
China)  and  said  to  be  "An  Opium  Smoker,"  are  simply 
ludicrous  impossibilities.  Divesting  himself  of  his  outer 
gown,  the  smoker  stretches  himseK  at  full  length  upon 
the  couch;  if  he  is  in  a  regular  opium-smoking  establish- 
ment, this  couch  will  be  a  double  one  with  the  lamp  in 
a  shallow  tray  between  two  places  upon  each  one  of 
which  a  smoker  will  take  his  place;  the  couch  is  prefer- 
ably one  with  nothing  but  a  thin  mat  between  the 


UNITED    STATES     TOWARDS    CHINA       269 

smoker  and  the  boards  because  the  Chinese  are  quite 
unaccustomed  to  anything  like  a  comfortable  mattress. 
The  head  rests  on  a  hard  pillow,  not  infrequently  merely 
a  block  of  wood  covered  with  cloth  or  a  piece  of  leather. 
The  smoker  dips  into  the  opium  a  spoon-headed  needle 
and  dexterously  twists  it  about  until  he  has  gathered 
up  a  pellet  about  the  size  of  a  pea;  this  he  holds  in  the 
flame  of  a  small  vegetable-oil  lamp  of  a  particular  size 
and  shape  made  expressly  for  this  opium-smoking,  with 
a  hood  to  prevent  the  flame  from  flaring  and  spoihng 
the  opium  with  soot.  When  the  opium  has  become  dry 
and  spongy,  the  smoker  thrusts  it  into  the  small  orifice 
of  the  pipe,  holds  it  directly  over  the  flame  so  that  the 
full  heat  shall  impinge  upon  the  opium,  and  with  a 
strong  inhalation  —  only  one,  if  he  is  experienced,  so 
that  not  a  particle  of  the  precious  smoke  shall  be  lost  — 
he  draws  the  smoke  deep  into  his  lungs,  where  he  retains 
it  for  a  remarkably  long  time  and  then  slowly  exhales 
it  through  the  nostrils.  The  taste  of  the  half -fluid  paste 
is  rather  sweetish  and  oily,  but  the  odour  of  the  smoke  is 
intensely  disagreeable,  pungent,  and  sickening.  When 
the  charge  of  opium  has  been  burnt  out,  the  smoker  lies 
Ustless  for  a  moment  while  the  effect  of  the  fumes  is 
dissipating,  and  then  repeats  the  process  until  he  has 
used  all  his  purchase,  or  taken  the  full  quantity  he  has 
prescribed  for  himself.  With  the  first  whiff,  the  man 
becomes  garrulous  and  silly,  but  gradually  a  vacant 
paleness  and  shrinking  of  the  features  is  noticed;  a  deep, 
unrefreshing  sleep  of  from  half  an  hour  to  three  or  four 
hours'  duration  then  follows,  during  which  the  pulse 
becomes  slower,  weaker,  and  more  irregular  than  before 


270  THE     COMING    CHINA 

the  smoking  began.  After  the  habit  has  been  taken  up, 
there  is  a  general  weakening  of  the  mental  and  physical 
powers,  and  complete  recklessness  of  all  consequences, 
if  only  the  craving  for  more  of  the  drug  can  be  gratified. 
As  the  Cantonese  say,  and  perhaps  none  of  the  Chinese 
people  have  had  such  a  long,  bitter,  and  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  opium:  "There  are  Ten  Cannots  for 
the  opium  smoker:  he  cannot  give  up  the  habit;  he 
cannot  enjoy  sleep;  he  cannot  wait  for  his  turn  when 
sharing  his  pipe  with  his  friends;  he  cannot  rise  early;  he 
cannot  be  cured  when  he  becomes  ill;  he  cannot  help 
relatives  who  are  in  need;  he  cannot  enjoy  wealth;  he 
cannot  plan  anything;  he  cannot  get  credit  even  when  he 
has  been  an  old  customer;  he  cannot  walk  any  distance." 
After  China  had  made  certainly  two  efforts  to  force 
the  foreigners  to  obey  her  own  laws  and  stop  the  impor- 
tation, or  rather  the  smuggling,  of  the  forbidden  "for- 
eign medicine,"  although  it  is  not  fair  to  say  foreigners 
— in  the  plural — because  by  the  time  of  the  second  war 
the  business  was  almost  exclusively  in  English  hands  or 
under  English  control;  and  when  China  had  paid  dearly 
for  her  inability  to  gain  her  object,  the  government 
awoke  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  poverty- 
stricken  nation  was  growing  more  impoverished  by  the 
steady  drain  of  silver  going  abroad  to  pay  for  the  opium. 
Then  the  native  authorities  took  the  dangerous  course 
of  withdrawing  the  prohibition  against  cultivating  the 
poppy  and  the  domestic  manufacture  of  the  smoking 
opium,  in  the  hope  of  keeping  some,  at  least,  of  the 
silver  at  home.  It  was  an  awful  thing  to  do,  for  it 
seemed  to  break  down  the  last  barrier  between  China 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       271 

and  complete  moral  and  financial  ruin.  That  was  only 
about  fifty  years  ago,  and  in  September,  1906,  when  the 
edict  was  issued  calling  upon  the  people  to  take  their 
part  in  the  effort  to  do  away  with  the  curse  of  opium 
smoking,  it  was  said,  "the  provinces  of  Szechuen,  Shensi, 
Kansu,  Yunnan,  Kweichau,  Shansi,  and  Kanghwei 
abound  in  its  product,  which  is,  in  fact,  to  be  found 
everywhere."  And  Mr.  Merwin  says:  "Within  less  than 
half  a  century  after  the  native  growth  of  the  poppy  began, 
the  white  and  pink  and  mauve  blossoms  had  spread 
across  the  great  empire,  north  and  south,  east  and  west, 
until  to-day,  in  blossom  time,  almost  every  part  of  every 
province  has  its  white  and  mauve  patches.  You  may 
see  them  in  Manchuria,  on  the  edge  of  the  great  desert 
of  Gobi,  within  a  dozen  miles  of  Peking;  you  may  see 
them  from  the  head  waters  of  the  mighty  Yangtze  to 
its  mouth;  up  and  down  the  coast  for  two  thousand 
miles;  on  the  distant  borders  of  Thibet." 

When  we  pass  beyond  the  doors  of  the  Chinese  Im- 
perial Customs'  ofl&ces,  where  there  are  foreign  com- 
missioners and  accountants,  and  native  officials  who 
seem  to  be  imbued  with  the  sense  of  accuracy,  it  is 
simply  impossible  to  get  any  such  thing  as  statistics, 
and  no  dependence  at  all  can  be  put  upon  figures  or 
information  supplied  by  prefectural  officers;  therefore 
it  is  impossible  to  know  how  much  opium  was  made 
from  the  native-grown  poppies  when  their  cultivation 
was  at  its  height  a  few  years  ago;  but  the  effect  of  that 
cultivation  is  said  to  be  apparent  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  always  the  blight  has  fallen 
upon  the  very  best  of  the  agricultural  sections,  for  the 


272  THE    COMING    CHINA 

poppy  thrives  best  in  the  rich  bottom  lands  along  the 
many  rivers,  where  it  has  displaced  grain  and  vegetables 
that  would  have  supplied  wholesome  food.  True,  the 
profit  from  an  acre  of  poppies  is  greater  by  several  times 
than  from  an  acre  of  grain,  but  so,  too,  is  the  damning 
effect  upon  both  soil  and  husbandman.  What  did 
China  gain  by  that  effort  to  stop  the  importation  of 
Indian  opium?  Practically  nothing;  the  trade  was  hurt 
a  Uttle,  but  it  was  not  stopped;  and  it  will  not  be  stopped 
untU  the  Indian  Government  deliberately  does  that  at 
the  fountain-head,  by  forbidding  the  cultivation  of  the 
poppy  except  in  the  higher  lands  along  the  southern 
slopes  of  the  Himalayas  where  the  plant  is  of  a  quahty 
to  yield  morphia,  which  the  Ganges  Valley  plant  does  not 
supply  to  a  satisfactory  commercial  extent;  and  when 
that  same  government  permits  the  cultivation  of  suffi- 
cient only  to  supply  the  world's  legitimate  demand  for 
morphia  to  be  used  medicinally;  this,  of  course,  is  a 
proposition  which  bears  condemnation  on  its  own  face, 
philanthropy  does  not  figure  in  the  trial  balances  of 
governments.  To  China's  pitiful  appeal,  India  replies 
that  it  cannot  very  well  afford  to  cut  off  twenty  million 
dollars  (gold)  a  year  from  its  budget  receipts,  because 
there  seems  to  be  no  apparent  way  to  supply  the  deficit; 
but  that  if  she  were  really  convinced  of  China's  earnest- 
ness in  trying  to  stop  the  consumption  of  opium  in  the 
way  which  tends  to  injure  the  people  of  that  land,  she 
would  gladly  reduce  the  output,  "in  compassion  for 
mankind!"  But  when  a  treasure-chest  is  in  danger  of 
being  depleted,  it  is  ver}'^  difficult  indeed  to  see  that 
somebody  else  is  in  earnest  about  anything  which  goes 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       273 

contrary  to  our  own  selfish  views;  and  the  cultivation 
of  the  poppy  goes  merrily  on  in  India,  having  been 
checked  hardly  at  all.  Therefore,  this  effort  on  China's 
part  to  stop  the  importation  of  Indian  opium  has  been 
for  all  practical  purposes  a  failure.  Notwithstanding 
that,  the  Chinese  Gk)vemment,  believing  that  the  time 
had  come  which  was  forecast  by  the  hypothetical  speaker 
into  whose  mouth  Sir  Robert  Hart  put  the  words,  "and 
when  we  have  only  the  native  product  to  deal  with,  and 
thus  have  the  business  in  our  own  hands,  we  hope  to 
stop  the  habit  in  our  own  way,"  determined  to  try  the 
experiment. 

Whether  competition  had  failed  or  not,  it  was  high 
time  to  do  something  drastic  to  check  and,  if  a  himian 
possibility,  eventually  to  stop  the  smoking  of  opium  and 
the  degradation  of  the  people — mainly  through  the  use 
of  the  pernicious  drug — for  they  had  gone  down  to  the 
very  depths;  the  land  was  impoverished,  the  supply  of 
sustaining  food  was  seriously  impaired;  the  poverty  of 
the  masses  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse;  and,  worst 
of  all,  the  effort  of  the  reformers  to  get  their  country 
out  of  the  rut  of  "Old  Custom,"  was  likely  to  be  made 
to  appear  ridiculous  in  its  insincerity  through  apparent 
failure,  while  more  than  one  half  of  the  people  were 
debauched  by  the  opium-smoking  habit;  for  what  can 
men  do  in  the  way  of  reform  of  unsatisfactory  moral  and 
educational  institutions  and  in  trying  to  establish  repre- 
sentative government  when  ability  to  do  anything  is 
crippled  by  those  "Ten  Cannots"?  In  the  one  matter 
of  opium,  China  had  retained  a  semblance  of  tariff  auton- 
omy; the  duty  on  imported  opium  could  be  raised,  and 


274  THE     COMING    CHINA 

it  is  almost  prohibitive;  but  with  such  a  vice  as  the 
smoking  habit  fixed  on  a  people,  duties  will  not  keep  out 
the  thing  that  is  craved;  they  merely  help  to  ruin  the 
victim  all  the  faster  by  increasing  the  cost  of  the  stuff 
that  he  must  have  if  smoking  is  allowed. 

If  our  readers  have  any  interest  in  this  matter  of 
China's  wretched  condition  a  few  years  ago,  we  suggest 
that  they  read  carefully  the  chapter  "A  Glimpse  into 
an  Opium  Province,"  in  Mr.  Merwin's  book;  it  is  worth 
studying  closely,  but  some  of  the  saUent  facts  are  epit- 
omized here  for  those  who  either  have  not  the  time  to 
consider  more,  or  find  it  inconvenient  to  get  that  book. 
One  would  naturally  expect  the  evidences  of  the  havoc 
wrought  by  the  opium-smoking  vice  to  be  most  conspic- 
uous at  the  ports  where  It  is  landed  for  distribution,  or 
within  easy  reach  thereof,  but  this  is  not  the  case;  the 
provinces  that  have  come  nearest  to  absolute  ruin  from 
the  cultivation  of  the  poppy  and  the  use  of  opium  are 
well  back  in  the  interior;  they  have  been  already  enu- 
merated, and  a  glance  at  a  map  will  show  that  they  all 
form  part  of  the  great  Yangtze  and  Hoang-ho  River 
basins;  in  extent  they  are  about  one  third  the  area  of 
the  United  States  and  yet  they  support  a  population  of 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  million,  probably  a 
good  half  of  the  whole  of  China's  inhabitants,  for  the 
handy  round  number,  four  hundred  million,  will  prob- 
ably shrink  very  much  when  that  which  never  yet  has 
been  undertaken  is  done,  and  a  careful  census  is  pre- 
pared. A  century  ago  those  Yangtze  and  Hoang-ho 
Valley  people  were  reckoned  by  the  Chinese  to  be 
about  the  most  fortunate  of  all  those  who  were  so 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      275 

blessed  as  to  be  "Men  of  T'ang"  (Chinese);  but  to- 
day, owing  to  the  actual  exhaustion  of  the  best  fields 
through  constant  poppy  growing  and  the  degradation 
of  all  the  people  because  of  opium  smoking,  the  support 
that  these  valley  people  get  in  nutritious  crops  is 
aptly  described  as  being  "after  a  fashion."  In  Shansi 
province,  probably,  the  opium  curse  has  laid  its  hand 
most  bUghtingly,  for  a  Shansi  man  himself  declared, 
five  years  ago,  that  ninety  per  cent  seemed  rather  a  low 
estimate  to  put  upon  the  number  of  habitual  opium 
smokers.  All  over  the  province,  the  cities,  towns,  and 
villages  are  clustered  together  just  so  thickly  as  must  be 
to  give  55,268  square  miles  a  population  of  nearly  thirty 
million  people.  New  York  State  has  an  area  of  49,170 
square  miles  and  a  population  of  about  six  millions;  and 
a  comparison  of  density  is  interesting  and  very  instruc- 
tive in  this  particular  collection.  Ninety  per  cent  and 
more  of  thirty  milhon  people,  for  in  Shansi  men,  women, 
and  children  all  smoked  opium  a  few  years  ago,  or  over 
twenty-seven  million!  How  meaningless  is  the  state- 
ment that  the  opium-smoking  habit  in  China  is  very 
much  the  same  as  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  in 
America  and  Europe!  And  nearly  every  one  of  the 
villages  of  Shansi  was  httle  more  than  a  heap  of  ruins; 
simply  because  the  people  had  been  debauched  en  masse 
by  the  opium  curse.  The  information  as  to  the  ravages 
wrought  by  the  pernicious  drug  for  such  a  remote  dis- 
trict as  Shansi  province,  because  although  it  is  the  next 
on  the  west  to  Chihli,  the  Metropolitan  province,  it  is 
rather  out  of  the  line  of  travel,  was  obtained  for  the  most 
part  from  missionaries,   and  yet  their    estimates  are 


276  THE    COMING    CHINA 

declared  by  laymen  to  be  more  conservative  than  were 
those  made  by  observers  in  the  American  and  British  dip- 
lomatic and  consular  services  as  well  as  by  military  men 
and  physicians  who  are  not  connected  with  any  mission 
at  all.  It  seems  as  if  the  missionaries,  "being  con- 
stantly under  fire  as  'fanatics'  and  'enthusiasts,'  uncon- 
sciously lean  too  far  towards  the  side  of  understatement." 

To  the  Chinese,  as  well  as  to  the  foreigner,  the  phrase 
"an  opium  province,"  means  one  in  which  the  curse  has 
secured  such  a  hold  that  all  the  good  soil  —  no  rod  of 
which  can  be  spared  from  the  growing  of  necessary, 
nourishing  food  —  has  been  given  up  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  poppy,  and  that  practically  all  the  people  —  irre- 
spective of  age,  sex,  class  —  are  confirmed  opium-smok- 
ers; it  means  that  nearly  the  only  industries  followed  are 
those  which  contribute  to  the  habit;  that  is  the  boiling 
and  preparation  of  the  drug  and  the  manufacture  of 
pipes,  lamps,  and  the  few  other  accessories;  it  means 
absolute  ruin. 

"Everybody  in  Shansi  smokes  opium,"  is  a  saying; 
and  it  was  almost  Hterally  true;  for  "in  one  village  an 
English  traveller  asked  some  native  how  many  of  the 
inhabitants  smoke  opium,  and  one  replied,  indicating 
a  twelve-year-old  child,  'that  boy  doesn't.'"  While 
another  cynical  observer  declared  that  "eleven  out  of 
ten  Shansi  men  are  opium  smokers."  With  very  Httle 
variation  as  to  fact  and  with  none  whatever  as  to  effect, 
the  same  conditions  prevail  in  every  one  of  a  dozen  or 
more  provinces,  until  there  seems  to  be  no  hope  for 
these  "opium  provinces,"  or  for  any  other  part  of 
China,  because  the  disease  has  spread  throughout  the 


TTNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      277 

entire  mass  of  the  people.  Families,  that  had  been 
wealthy  a  few  years  ago,  sold  their  heirlooms,  old 
bronzes,  porcelains,  furniture,  and  everything  that  was 
salable,  in  order  to  buy  opium,  imtil  now  they  are 
poor;  those  who  were  poor,  yet  not  actually  indigent, 
having  sufficient  to  supply  them  with  something  to  eat 
each  day  (although  that  "something"  might  seem 
shamefully  insufficient  to  our  poorest  farmers  and  day 
labourers),  were  reduced  to  such  straits  that  there  was 
not  food  of  any  kind  some  days,  and,  to  give  one  concrete 
example  of  indigence,  one  man  and  his  wife  had  but  a 
single  suit  of  clothing  between  them.  Now,  when  it  is 
remembered  that  even  the  poorest  in  America  do  not 
know  what  the  meaning  of  "poverty"  is  in  China,  it 
may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  condition  of  the 
Shansi  peasants  had  been  brought  to  a  wretched  state 
by  this  accursed  opium.  Let  the  reader  try  to  draw 
the  mental  picture  the  following  statement  suggests: 
"Up  on  the  hills  I  stopped  at  a  village  and  enquired  if 
they  had  any  food  for  sale,  and  they  told  me  that  they 
had  nothing  but  frozen  potatoes.  So  I  asked  to  be 
shown  these,  and  I  went  into  one  of  the  hovels  and  found 
little  potatoes,  perhaps  one-half  an  inch  across,  frozen, 
and  all  strewn  over  the  kang  (the  brick  bed)  where  they 
were  drying.  As  soon  as  they  were  dry,  they  were  to  be 
ground  down  into  a  meal  of  which  dimiplings  were  made, 
and  these  were  steamed.  That  was  their  only  diet  and 
had  been  for  the  past  month."*  The  writer  of  that 
statement  gave  the  man  ten  cents;  but,  instead  of  buying 
food  for  himself  and  family,  the  next  day,  when  the  giver 

*  Taken  from  a  quotation  in  "Drugging  a  Nation." 


278  THE    COMING    CHINA 

of  that  misplaced  charity  returned,  the  man  was  enjoy- 
ing a  pipe  of  opium.  This  is  merely  one  illustration  of 
the  oft-repeated  statement  that  the  confirmed  opium 
smoker  is  absolutely  lost  to  all  sense  of  decency  and 
consideration  even  for  those  who  have  the  right  to  expect 
support  from  him;  wife  and  children  are  never  thought 
of  until  after  the  cravings  of  his  appetite  are  satisfied, 
and  if  there  is  not  enough  for  both  opium  and  food,  the 
family  must  suffer. 

Supposing,  but  it  is  asking  too  much  —  the  case  is 
hardly  supposable  —  that  the  victim  has  not  yet  so 
sapped  his  vitality  as  to  be  totally  unfitted  to  do  work 
at  all;  what  time  has  he  to  give  to  his  trade,  occupation, 
or  profession?  Only  a  very  rich  man  can  afford  to 
keep  servants  to  charge  his  pipe  for  him,  and  these 
servants  are  usually  slaves,  frequently  the  daughters  of 
men  who  have  so  far  given  way  to  the  craving  for  opium 
that,  being  without  ready  cash  to  purchase,  they  have 
sold  their  children.  If,  then,  the  man  has  to  minister 
to  his  own  wants,  it  will  take  him,  assuming  him  to  be 
an  adept  at  manipulating  the  drug  and  charging  his 
pipe,  from  fifteen  minutes  to  half  an  hour  to  get  through 
one  smoke,  and  if  —  as  is  common,  he  smokes  ten  or 
twenty  times  a  day,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  no  time 
left  for  any  rational  or  wage-earning  occupation;  and 
think  of  the  cost !  If  it  is  a  poor  man,  one  who  must  be 
satisfied  with  the  dregs  from  the  boiling  process,  or  the 
scrapings  from  the  rich  men's  pipes,  he  will  pay  from 
fifty  cents  to  a  dollar  a  day  for  his  opium,  and  this  in  a 
land  where  twenty  cents  a  day  are  a  fairly  good  wage 
for  an  unskilled  labourer.     If  the  smoker  is  still  suffi- 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      279 

ciently  affluent  to  be  able  to  indulge  himself  with  the  best 
quality,  his  bill  will  run  up  to  twenty  dollars  a  day 
easily.  There  are  some  wealthy  merchants  who  smoke 
(perhaps  there  are  many  who  still  do  it)  fifty  and  more 
times  a  day;  burn  up  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
dollars  a  day!  The  tobacco  habit  may  be  an  expensive 
one,  but  no  American  or  European  Croesus  ever  plunged 
into  extravagance  to  that  extent;  and  the  nicotine  can 
not  be  named  with  the  narcotic  in  the  mental,  moral, 
and  physical  deadening. 

Something  was  done  and,  the  circumstances  consid- 
ered, well  done.  It  has  been  said  that  when  the  Chinese 
Government  makes  up  its  mind  to  do  a  thing,  there  is  no 
government  in  the  world  that  can  accomplish  so  much; 
but  it  has  to  be  done  in  the  right  way,  and  that  way  was 
followed,  for  the  people  were  called  upon  to  co-operate, 
and  since  not  even  a  Chinese  peasant  farmer  who  has 
learnt  that  greater  profit  comes  from  an  acre  of  poppies 
than  from  ten  acres  of  rice,  and  who  has  also  learnt  how 
to  smoke  opium  until  the  habit  has  become  his  master, 
cannot  defend  the  habit,  there  was  no  ground  for  oppo- 
sition to  the  government's  mandate  against  poppy  cul- 
tivation and  opium  smoking,  as  there  has  been  against 
many  laws  made  by  the  Peking  Government  during  the 
last  three  hundred  years,  which  were  rendered  inopera- 
tive by  either  the  passive  resistance  or  the  violent 
opposition  of  the  people. 

There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  edict  which  the 
Empress  Dowager  issued  in  1906.  As  translated  by 
several  writers,  it  reads  somewhat  as  follows:  "Since  the 
first  prohibition  of  opium  almost  the  whole  of  China 


28o  THE     COMING     CHINA 

has  been  flooded  with  poison.  Smokers  of  opium  have 
wasted  their  time,  neglected  their  employment,  ruined 
their  constitutions,  and  impoverished  their  households. 
For  several  decades,  therefore,  China  has  presented  a 
spectacle  of  increasing  poverty  and  weakness.  Merely 
to  mention  the  matter,  arouses  our  indignation.  The 
court  has  now  determined  to  make  China  powerful,  and 
to  this  end  we  urge  our  people  to  reform  in  this  respect. 
We,  therefore,  decree  that  within  a  limit  of  ten  years 
this  injurious  filth  shall  be  completely  swept  away. 
We  further  order  the  Council  of  State  to  consider  means 
for  prohibiting  both  the  growing  of  the  poppy  and  the 
smoking  of  the  opium."  The  pathos  lies  in  the  con- 
fession of  weakness  because  of  inability,  hitherto,  to 
prevent  the  use  of  something  that  was  known  to  be 
injurious,  that  was  introduced  to  the  people  by  out- 
siders, which  had  undermined  the  very  framework  of 
China's  society;  and  in  the  appeal  to  the  people  to  do 
something  for  themselves. 

The  Council  of  State  obeyed  the  Imperial  command 
and  gave  the  decree  the  necessary  operative  force  in 
definite  regulation:  opium  smokers  were  required  to  re- 
port themselves  and  to  procure  a  license  if  they  wished 
to  continue  the  use  of  their  pipes.  As  the  habit  had 
shown  the  weakness  of  many  officials,  whose  actions  were 
a  bad  example  to  the  people  and  a  stimulus  to  ridicule 
by  strangers,  special  instructions  were  issued  to  them; 
they  were  to  be  divided  into  two  classes:  young  men 
must  be  able  to  show  conclusively  that  they  had  finally 
given  up  the  smoking  habit  within  six  months;  while 
older  men,  in  whom  the  habit  had  become  so  strongly 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA       281 

implanted  as  to  make  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
eradicate  it,  were  not  limited  in  the  matter  of  time  for 
effecting  a  cure.  But  both  young  smokers  and  old  ones, 
too,  had  to  supply  at  their  own  expense  satisfactory 
substitutes  in  their  offices  during  the  time  of  the  cure, 
no  matter  how  long  it  might  be.  Within  six  months 
all  public  places  where  opium  was  smoked  were  to  be 
closed,  and,  after  that  time  no  opium  pipes  or  lamps 
were  to  be  made  or  sold;  but  shops  for  the  sale  of  the 
drug  were  to  be  permitted  to  sell  during  the  ten  years' 
limit  put  upon  the  traffic;  this  was  the  one  weakness. 

When  the  Manchu  governor,  Yii  Hsien,  was  in  au- 
thority in  the  province  of  Shantung,  he  fomented  the 
Boxer  uprising,  and  when  transferred  to  Shansi,  the 
same  thing  was  repeated.  Under  Yuan  Shih-kai,  that 
same  Shantung  was  restored  to  order  and  kept  quiet 
during  all  the  awful  Summer  of  1900.  Chang  Chih- 
tung  held  the  upper  Yang-tze  provinces  in  check, 
notwithstanding  that  there  were  peculiar  local  compli- 
cations. This  shows,  as  Dr.  Ferguson,  of  Shanghai,  is 
credited  with  saying:  "No  other  government  in  the 
world  can  so  effectively  enforce  a  law  as  the  Chinese 
Government  —  when  they  want  to."  Now,  let  us  con- 
sider for  a  httle  the  sincerity  of  that  government,  its 
officials,  and  the  people  of  China  in  the  matter  of  trying 
to  check  and  ultimately  wipe  out  the  opium  curse.  This 
sincerity  has  been  openly  scouted  by  some  Enghsh 
public  men  and  joumaKsts,  yet  there  seems  to  be  reason- 
able ground  for  belief  in  it.  The  charge  was  made  that 
this  sincerity  is  merely  a  pretext  for  securing  the  monop- 
oly of  the  opium  business  for  the  Chinese  Government 


282  THE    COMING    CHINA 

itself;  but  why  do  that?  The  duty  levied  upon  the 
imported  article  amounts  to  fully  five  million  dollars  a 
year,  including  the  likin  or  internal  revenue  charges, 
and  this  sum  is  probably  almost  as  much  as  could  be 
raised  from  a  domestic  monopoly;  this  seems  to  contra- 
dict one  aspect  of  the  insincerity  imputation. 

Again,  the  sentiment  of  the  people  has  manifestly 
turned  against  opium;  the  appeal  to  the  people  of  all 
classes,  rich  and  poor,  mandarin  and  farmer,  has  been 
listened  to,  and  the  feeling  is  strongest  among  those  who 
are  in  the  advanced  guard  of  the  reform  movement. 
"Opium  smoking  used  to  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course; 
now,  when  you  find  a  man  smoking  too  much,  you  also 
find  a  group  of  friends  apologizing  for  him."  Opium 
smoking  is  absolutely  forbidden  in  the  new  army;  and 
there  are  many  Chinese  officials  and  merchants  who 
positively  refuse  to  employ  opium  smokers  in  any  capac- 
ity. In  all  parts  of  the  country,  too,  there  are  societies 
formed  which  are  co-operating  vigourously  with  the  efforts 
of  the  officials  to  do  away  with  the  curse.  But  another 
imputation  has  been  laid:  some  declare  that  if  the 
Chinese  do  succeed  in  this  crusade  against  opium,  it  may 
result  in  the  complete  expulsion  of  foreigners  from  their 
country.  We  fail  to  see  the  precise  connection;  the 
argument  appears  to  be  illogical.  Statements,  acts,  and 
all  evidence  point  to  a  desire  on  China's  part  to  come 
out  absolutely  from  her  past  exclusiveness  and  to  be- 
come one  of  the  Powers;  that  this  cannot  be  done  with- 
out conforming  to  the  ways  of  the  others  in  international 
intercourse,  in  large  measure,  if  not  entirely,  demands 
no  argument  in  its  support.    Admitting  this,  there  comes 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      283 

the  reciprocal  duty  of  exchange  in  everything,  ideas, 
commercial  intercourse,  all  relations.  If  China  wishes 
to  progress,  she  must  be  in  touch  with  the  world  and  this 
means  that  some  of  her  people  must  go  abroad;  the 
complement  is  evident.  The  "  Clear  out  the  Foreigners  " 
of  Prince  Tuan  was  doubtless  intended  to  be  complete 
at  the  time;  but  back  of  it  was  a  wish  to  close  up  China 
once  more;  that  cry  has  been  discontinued. 

Returning  to  the  efforts  on  the  part  of  local  govern- 
ments to  put  in  force  the  regulation  of  the  Council  of 
State.  In  many  of  the  "Opium  Provinces"  there  has 
been  a  considerable  diminution  of  the  area  planted  in 
poppies;  in  other  districts  the  area  is  declared  to  ba 
"less  than  last  year,"  and  this  has  been  going  on  now 
for  three  or  four  years.  Such  men  as  Chang  Chih-tung 
(before  his  death  in  1909),  Tong  Shao-i,  Yuan  Shih-kai, 
and  other  governors  who  had  the  desire  to  do  so,  made 
short  work  of  the  dens  where  opium  was  smoked  pub- 
licly. They  stopped  the  manufacture  of  pipes  and  all 
accessories  and  they  did  show  that  China  is  sincere  in  its 
effort.  But  what  is  to  be  said  for  the  "foreign  con- 
cessions?" That  story  is  simply  shameful,  seemingly 
not  so  much  as  a  pretence  of  complying  with  China's 
wish  is  noticeable  in  any  place  of  importance  save 
Shanghai;  and  at  most  of  the  places  on  China's  soil 
over  which  the  government  of  that  country  exercises 
no  jurisdiction,  the  opium  dens  are  described  as  being 
"wide  open."  At  Shanghai  the  movement  to  suppress 
opium  smoking  received  remarkable  assistance  from  the 
native  populace. 

This  is  not  intended  to  be  a  full  exposition  of  the 


284  THE    COMING    CHINA 

opium  curse  in  China;  for  that  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  works  which  have  been  mentioned,  and  to  many 
others,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  justify  our  conten- 
tion that  one  of  the  first  duties  of  the  United  States 
towards  China  is  to  render  every  possible  assistance  in 
stamping  out  that  curse  as  quickly  as  it  can  be  done, 
if  there  is  any  spark  of  sincerity  about  the  expressions 
of  friendly  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  oldest 
empire  in  the  world. 

Sir  Ernest  Satow,  for  some  time  British  Minister 
to  the  Chinese  Court,  is  quoted  as  saying  that  "foot- 
binding"  of  the  Chinese  girls  is  as  productive  of  mis- 
ery as  is  the  smoking  of  opium.  This  seems  to  be  a 
most  extraordinary  statement.  We  would  not  try  to 
minimize  the  misery  that  this  wretched  fashion  entails 
upon  the  young  girls  who  are  subjected  to  the  terrible 
torture  of  having  the  toes  bound  back  in  infancy  and 
the  checking  of  the  foot's  growth;  but  to  compare  it 
with  the  moral,  physical,  and  financial  curses  of  opium 
is  simply  beyond  reason. 

Since  this  chapter  was  written,  information  has  been 
received  of  the  signing  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  Opium  Con- 
vention at  Shanghai,  on  May  8,  191 1.  The  text  thereof 
is  reproduced  from  The  Japan  Weekly  Mail  of  May  13, 
that  journal  having  obtained  it  through  tYveTokyo  Asahi. 

The  opium  convention  of  1907  shall  be  continued 
subject  to  the  following  conditions: 

I.  China  shall  decrease  the  amount  of  opium  pro- 
duction in  proportion  to  the  decrease  of  the  annual 
importation  of  Indian  opium  until  the  total  prohibition 
of  opium  shall  have  been  enforced  in  191 7. 


Woman  with  Compkessed  Feet 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      285 

2.  Great  Britain  admits  the  successful  prohibition 
of  opium  enforced  by  China  and  consents  to  the  suspen- 
sion of  importation  of  Indian  opium  at  an  earlier  date 
than  191 7,  if  the  production  of  opium  in  China  ceases. 

3.  Great  Britain  agrees  not  to  import  Indian  opium 
to  the  provinces  where  opium  has  been  successfully 
prohibited,  but  Shanghai  and  Canton  shall  not  be  closed 
to  opium  until  the  last. 

4.  Great  Britain  reserves  to  herself  the  right  to  inves- 
tigate the  decrease  of  opium  production  in  China,  and 
China  shall  accord  her  every  faciUty  for  such  investi- 
gation. 

5.  China  reserves  to  herself  the  right  of  investigating 
transactions  in  opium  in  India. 

6.  Great  Britain  agrees  to  the  imposition  of  an  import 
duty  at  the  rate  of  350  taels  per  chest,  provided  China 
shall  have  imposed  a  similar  rate  of  tax  on  her  domestic 
production. 

7.  China  shall  abrogate  the  restrictions  now  placed 
by  each  province  on  the  wholesale  import  of  Indian 
opium  and  permit  the  imposition  of  taxes  at  the  ports 
of  importation;  otherwise  Great  Britain  will  suspend 
and  abrogate  the  present  convention. 

8.  The  exportation  of  Indian  opium  in  191 1  shall  not 
exceed  30,600  chests  and  the  exportation  shall  be  annu- 
ally decreased  by  6100  chests  in  subsequent  years. 
The  chests  shall  be  marked  and  numbered, 

9.  The  present  convention  is  subject  to  a  modifica- 
tion by  mutual  agreement. 

10.  Indian  opium  stored  at  Hongkong  and  in  the 
Customs  warehouses  at  all  the  treaty-ports  as  shown  in 


286  THE    COMING    CHINA 

the  list  appended  to  the  convention  shall  be  admitted 
under  the  present  Customs  tariff  during  the  period  of 
seven  days  after  the  convention  goes  into  operation. 

This,  apparently,  gives  promise  of  relief  for  which  the 
Chinese  Government  and  a  majority  of  the  people  are 
struggling.  It  is  not  fair  to  impugn  the  motives  of 
either  party,  and  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  clause 
seven  does  leave  a  very  wide  loophole  through  which 
Great  Britain  may  creep,  if  she  is  disposed  to  do  so, 
and  we  must  admit,  regretfully,  that  there  have  not  yet 
appeared  those  absolutely  unimpeachable  evidences  of  a 
keen  desire  to  help  the  Chinese  people,  in  this  opium 
matter,  that  their  true  friends  would  like  to  see.  We 
can  but  hope  for  the  best;  and  that  hope  really  makes 
us  beheve  that  the  most  dreadful  blight  which  was  ever 
cast  over  a  whole  nation  will  ere  long  be  removed. 

The  Chinese  Court  has  issued  a  decree,  following  up 
the  convention,  to  the  effect  that  the  sooner  the  use  of 
opium  is  discontinued  the  earlier  the  importation  wiU 
stop.  This  is  not  quite  so  simple  as  it  reads,  for  the 
use  of  opium  is,  in  a  measure,  conditional  upon  the 
home  manufacture.  All  authorities  are,  therefore, 
again  urged  to  exert  themselves  vigorously  to  stamp 
out  the  cultivation  of  the  poppy,  to  prevent  the  manu- 
facture of  smoking-opium,  to  forbid  the  use  of  the  drug 
for  smoking,  and  to  stop  the  carriage  of  opium  through- 
out the  whole  country. 


UNITED    STATES    TOWARDS    CHINA      287 


THE    CHINESE    DYNASTIES,    SYNOPTICAL    TABLE 
From  Prof.  Herbert  A.  Giles'  Chinese-English  Dictionary 


Number  of 

Name  of  Dynasty 

Sovereigns 

Began 

Ended 

Duration 

The  Age  of  the  Five  Rulers 

9 

B.C.    2852 

B.C.   2205 

647 

Hsia 

17 

2205 

1766 

439 

Shang  or  Yin 

28 

1766 

I122 

644 

Chou 

34 

II22 

255 

867 

Ts'in 

5 

255 

206 

49 

Han,  or  Former  Han,  or  Western 

Han 

14 

B.C.    206 

A.D.    25 

231 

Later  Han,  or  pastern  Han 

12 

A.D.      25 

221 

196 

The  Three  Kingdoms 

II 

221 

265 

44 

Minor  Han 

2 

221 

265 

44 

Wei 

5 

220 

265 

45 

Wu 

4 

229 

265 

36 

Western  Tsin 

4 

265 

317 

52 

Eastern  Tsin 

II 

317 

420 

103 

Division  into  North  and  South 

58 

420 

589 

169 

Sung  {House  of  Liu) 

9 

420 

479 

59 

Ch'i 

7 

479 

502 

23 

Liang 

6 

502 

557 

55 

Ch'en 

5 

557 

589 

32 

Northern  or  First  Wei 

15 

386 

535 

149 

Western  Wei 

3 

535 

557 

22 

Eastern  Wei 

I 

534 

550 

16 

Northern  Ch'i 

7 

550 

589 

39 

Northern  Chou 

5 

557 

589 

32 

Sui 

4 

589 

618 

29 

T'ang 

22 

618 

907 

289 

The  Five  Dynasties 

13 

907 

960 

S3 

Posterior  Liang 

2 

907 

923 

16 

Posterior  T'ang 

4 

923 

936 

13 

Posterior  Tsin 

2 

936 

947 

II 

Posterior  Han 

2 

947 

951 

4 

Posterior  Chou 

3 

951 

00 

9 

Liao 

9 

907 

II25 

218 

Western  Liao 

5 

1125 

1 168 

43 

Kin 

10 

1115 

1260 

145 

Sung 

9 

960 

II27 

167 

Southern  Sung 

9 

1127 

1280 

153 

Yuan  (Mongol) 

9 

1280 

1368 

88 

Ming 

17 

1368 

1644 

276 

Ts'ing  (Manchu)  reigning 

II 

1644 

INDEX 


INDEX 


Account  of  d5masties,  141. 
Adoption  of    Western  arms  and 

drill,  95. 
Africa,  European  exploration,  west 

coast,  9;  South  conditions  in,  60. 
Agricultural  schools,  edict,  95. 
American  Asiatic  Society,  quoted, 

74- 

American  civilization,  39;  diplo- 
macy in  Far  East,  2;  friendli- 
ness for  China  suspected  by 
Japanese,  3;  Government,  its 
sentiments,  57;  mercantile 
houses  in  China,  69;  news- 
papers, 59;  official  methods 
pleasing  to  Chinese,  69;  race 
prejudice,  57. 

"American  Commonwealth,  The," 
quoted,  36. 

American  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, quoted,  58. 

Americans  and  Europeans,  their 
motives,  34. 

Americans  in  Philippines,  164; 
"True,"  39. 

Anglo-Chinese  Opium  Conven- 
tion, May  8,  191 1,  284. 

Anglo-Saxon  race  prejudice,  57. 

Appreciation  of  medical  aid, 
Chinese,  29. 

Apprehension  of  "Mongol  Inva- 
sion" and  "Yellow  Peril" 
groundless,  29. 

Arabian  merchants,  9th  cent., 
narrative,  7 ;  trading  missions,  8. 

Argyle,  case  of,  127. 

Arrow,  opium  smuggling  lorcha, 
case  of,  27,  63,  132,  257. 


Attila,  "Scourge  of  God,"  118. 
"Awful  Mongols,"  77. 

Barbarians,  "I,"  3^>  121. 
Beginning  of  modern  intercourse 

with  Europeans,  30. 
"Beyond  the  Four  Seas,"  51. 
"Black-haired  People,"  Li  Min, 

Chinese,  184. 
"Blood   is   thicker   than  water," 

Tatnall,  66. 
Bogue  Forts,  63,  130. 
Boulger,     D.     C,     "History    of 

China,"  118. 
"Boxers,"  25,  72,  213. 
Bremer,  Sir  Gordon,  Commander 

British  fleet,  129. 
Brinkley,  Capt.  Frank,  R.  A.,  his 

"Oriental  Series,"  64. 
British,  appearance  in  China,  10; 

first   influence   not   favourable, 

11;   race  prejudice,  57. 
Bryce,    Rt.    Hon.    James,    "The 

American  Commonwealth,"  36. 
Buchanan,  President,  66. 
Buddhism,  Chinese,  86;  or  reUgion 

of  "Fo,"  6. 
Buddhist  literature  brought  into 

China,  6. 
Budgets  proposed,  edict,  98. 
Bureau   of    Mines,    of    Railways, 

edict,  96. 
Burhngame,  Anson,  his  treaty,  72. 

Canton  captured,  130. 
Carthagenian     intercourse     with 

China,  5. 
Cass,  Lewis,  Secretary  of  State,  66. 


291 


292 


INDE  X 


"Celestial  Empire,  The,"  12. 

Censures  delay  in  opening  Peking 
University,  edict,  95. 

Chang  Chih-timg,  "  China's  Great- 
est Viceroy,"  51,  52,  88,  155, 
193,  229,  245. 

Cheh-kiang  captured,  130. 

Chiao  Hsiang -Wang, emperor,  m. 

Chien  Lung,  emperor,  116. 

China,  advance,  its  character,  231; 
ancient  government,  iii;  atti- 
tude towards  other  nations,  229; 
author's  first  visit,  vii;  auton- 
omous rights  in  Manchxuia,  3; 
backwardness  in  1866,  viii; 
character  of  books  about,  137; 
conditions  in,  60;  development 
of  intercourse  with  West,  151; 
disintegration  of,  113;  extent 
in  17th  century,  in;  in  1840, 
113;  first  mentioned  in  Euro- 
pean history,  5;  immobility,  i; 
laws  need  remodelling,  237; 
legal  procedure,  238;  may  yet 
neutralize  Manchurian  railways 
4;  mihtary  institutions,  226; 
reform  and  its  economic  effect, 
251;  religion  in,  80;  the  name, 
11;  to  support  United  States, 
252;   without  equality  in  rights, 

237- 
"China    and    America   To-day," 

14,  185. 
China's      "Monroe       Doctrine," 

180. 
"China's    Only    Hope,"    53,    88, 

193- 
Chinese  aided  Scythians,  5;  army, 
old-time,  249;  antiquity  of, 
136;  appreciation  of  medical 
aid,  29;  aspirations,  235;  as 
warriors,  117;  beginning  of 
their  existence,  4;  Buddhism, 
86;  conservatism,  198,  234; 
consistency,  219;  education,  old- 


time,  44;  feeling,  revmsivu  in» 
10;  general  in  Caspian  Valley, 
6;  incursion  of,  115;  in  Philip- 
pines since  American  occupa- 
tion, 165;  labourers  in  United 
States,  35,  37;  language,  14; 
not  difficult,  179;  they  learnt 
much  from  Japanese,  212;  lit- 
erati, their  titles,  46;  officials, 
44;  opinion  of  American  meth- 
ods in  Philippines,  181;  in 
1 6th  century,  34;  "pretended" 
reform,  221;  punishments,  125; 
reform  began  in  wrong  way,  89; 
resent  exclusion  from  United 
States,  38;  teaching,  example 
oi,  133;  wrath,  attack  Portu- 
guese, 16. 

Chinese  and  Japanese,  charac- 
ters contrasted,  171;  common 
hatred,  207,  212. 

Chinese  and  Philippines,  160. 

"Chinese  Folk-lore  Tales,"  49. 

"Chinese"  Gordon,  Gen'l,  51. 

"Chinese  Herbal,"  Pun  Tsao,  264. 

"Chinese  Official,  A,"  25,  31,  32, 

243- 
Chin  Shih  Huang  (Chwang  Seang- 

Wang),  destroys  books,  13. 
Choo  Yuen-Chang  (Emperor  T'ai 

Tsu),  founder  of  Ming  Dynasty, 

149- 

"Chop"  dollars,  xiii. 

Christian  missionaries,  259;  prop- 
aganda, 188. 

Chu  Yuen-Chang,  same  as  Choo, 
149. 

Chuen  Hioh  Pien,  "China's  only 
Hope,"  53,  88. 

Chun    (Chung),    Prince    Regent, 

51,  iSS- 
Chusan  Archipelago,  seized,  129, 

130. 
Chwang   Hsiang-Wang,    same   as 

Chin  Shih  Huang,  13. 


INDEX 


293 


Citizens,  "New"  American,  39. 
Clash  between  Great  Britain  and 

China,  127. 
"Clear  out  the  foreigners,"  Prince 

Tuan,  193. 
Conditions  in   China    250    years 

ago,  21. 
Confucianism,  81. 
Confucius,  his  date,  4;    prophecy 

about  "true"  religion,  5,  186. 
"Conquest  of  China,  The  Educa- 
tional," 185. 
Constantinople,    trading    mission 

from,  8. 
Constitution  to  be  granted,  edict, 

103. 
Constitutional      govenmient      in 

China,  140. 
Construction,         Peking-Hankow 

Railway,  edict,  95. 
Contrast     between     former    and 

present     Christian     missionary 

efifort,  190. 
Coolie  trafl&c,  64. 
Courier  posts  supplanted,   edict, 

98. 
Course  of  study,  former,  48. 
Cushing,    Caleb,    Am.    Min.,    64; 

his    credentials,    64;     Wanghia 

Treaty,  1844,  65. 

Declaration      of      Independence, 

American,  58. 
"Demand"    not    "insist    upon," 

30. 
Development  of  intercourse,  China 

and  West,  151. 
Dewey,     Commodore,     162;      at 

Mirs  Bay,  163. 
Dialects  of  Chinese  language,  14. 
Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese, 

"Fusang,"  158. 
Disintegration  of  China,  113. 
Disinterestedness  (?)  of  powerful 

nations,  3. 


Dowager  Empress,  The  late,  99, 
100,  loi,  102;  her  crusade 
against  opium,  103;  her  dream 
about  a  Constitution,  102;  her 
relapse,  loi;  interferes  with 
Emperor  Kuang  Hsli,  99;  re- 
ceives foreign  ladies,  100; 
shrewdness,  154;  grants  Con- 
stitution, 139. 

"Drugging  a  Nation,"  35. 

Dutch,  in  Formosa,  18;  inter- 
course, 18;  perform  Kaotao,  18. 

Duty  of  United  States  towards 
China,  256. 

Dynastic  change,  possibihties  of, 

135- 
Dynasties,  account  of,  141. 

East  India  Company,  11;  takes 
charge  of  opium  production,  24. 

Eastern  Manchus,  156. 

Edicts,  Emperor  Kwang  Hsii's,  93 
et  seq. 

Education,  general,  missionary 
influence,  191;  its  needs,  240, 
259;   Japan's  influence,  224. 

"Educational  Conquest  of  China, 
The,"  185. 

Educational  institutions,  Yuen 
Shih-Kai's  list  of,  201 ;  methods, 
effect  of  change  in,  199. 

Effect  of  Russo-Japanese  war, 
106. 

Egypt,  conditions  in,  60. 

Elgin  Mission,  the,  30,  32. 

Elliott,  Capt.,  British  Trade  Com- 
missioner, 128. 

"Emily,"  episode  on  American 
ship,  62. 

Emperor  Kwang  Hsii,  52;  influ- 
ence on  young  Chinese,  90,  95; 
imprisonment,  99,  116;  educa- 
tional plan,  193. 

Emperor  Ming-ti,  his  dream,  5, 
186. 


294 


INDEX 


Empress  Dowager,  The  late,  vide 
Dowager. 

Encouragement  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  edict,  94;  of  Trade, 
edict,  96. 

English,  called  "rogues"  by  Portu- 
guese, 19;  in  Canton,  23. 

English-French  Expedition,  i860, 
2S»  ^^33)  assists  to  sup- 
press Taeping  Rebellion,  134; 
officers  treacherously  captured, 

133- 
Essay,  literary,  abolished,  edict, 

95- 
European  exploration,  west  coast 

of  Africa,  9. 
Europeans  and  Americans,  their 

motives,  34. 
Europeans'  ignorance  of  China,  19; 

their  leisurely  ways,  viii. 
Extravagance  of  opium-smoking, 

278. 
Extra-territorial     clause,     Japan 

secures  abolition  of,   20;    with 

Koxinga,  20. 

First  agreement,  China  and  Euro- 
pean Power,  10. 
First  "Reform,"  edict,  93. 
Five  Ports  opened,  131. 
Folk-lore  tales,  49. 
"Foreign  Devils,"  121. 
Foreign  intercourse  prior  to  16th 

cent.,  18. 
Foreigners,  their  quarrels  in  China, 

124. 
Foreman,  John,  quoted,  183. 
Formosa,  Dutch  in,  18;   Japanese 

first  expedition,  221. 
Foot-binding,  206;  compared  with 

opium  smoking,  284. 
French,     appearance    in     China, 

1506,  10,  124. 
"Fusang,"  discovery  of  America 

by  Chinese,  158. 


Gascoyne  Cecil,   Rev.  Lord  Wil- 

liam,  225. 
General     education,     missionary 

influence,  191. 
Genghis  Khan,  118. 
Giles,  Herbert  A.,  quoted,  14. 
Glimpse  into  an  opium  province, 

274. 
Gordon's        "Ever        Victorious 

Army,"  25. 
Governorships  dicontinued,  edict, 

97- 
Grand  Lama  (Tibet)  visits  Peking, 

147. 
Great  Wall  of  China,  The,  112. 
Gulick,    Rev.    Sidney    L.,    "The 

White  Peril  in  the  Far  East," 

242. 

Handicap  of  China,  87. 

Hanlin  College,  47. 

Hart,  Sir  Robert,  quoted,  26. 

Hay,  John,  72,  217. 

Headland,  Dr.  I.  T.,  "Court  Life 
in  China,"  90. 

Henry,  Patrick,  quoted,  i. 

Hideyoshi  (Taiko  Sama),  inva- 
sion of  Korea  207. 

"Highest,  Antiquity,"  143. 

History,  is  it  a  safe  guide?  i ;  not 
always  just  to  China,  i. 

Hongkong,  original  cession,  26. 

How-qua  (Wu  Sung-yan).  Canton 
merchant,  33. 

Hsiao  Wen- Wang,  emperor,  Ts'in 
DjTiasty,  III. 

Huns,  112,  118. 

Imitation  by  Chinese  of  Japan, 

413- 
Imitativeness    of    the    Japanese, 

143- 
Imperial    Clansmen    to     Europe, 

edict,  94. 
Imperial  decrees,  important,  139. 


INDEX 


295 


Impetus  to  military  affairs,  io6. 
Impression  made   by  Americans, 

159- 

India,  conditions  in,  60. 

Industrial  enterprise,  log. 

Influence,  of  change  in  educational 
matters,  199;  of  missionaries 
on  social  life,  201. 

Intercourse,  Chinese  with  Euro- 
peans, 15;  United  States  with 
China,  61. 

Introduction  of  Western  learning, 
199. 

Isaiah,  prophet,  quoted,  4. 

Japan,  army  and  navy,  their 
purpose,  227;  burden  of  taxa- 
tion, 219;  chronology  a  literary 
fraud,  208;  civilization  a  veneer, 
232;  "Divine  Right  of  Kings," 
218;  duplicity,  215;  early  ex- 
perience with  Europeans,  215; 
extra-territoriality  abolished,  20; 
Fine  Arts  an  improvement  on 
Chinese  models,  209;  history 
compiled  to  order  on  Chinese 
model,  208;  imperial  dynasty, 
209;  influence  on  China,  207; 
in  Formosa,  221;  interference 
Manchurian  railways,  222;  in- 
vasions of  Korea,  150;  jealousy, 
Hawaii,  70;  "Kojiki,"  136; 
"New  Great,"  map  of,  227; 
"Nihongi,"  136;  no  native 
written  language,  208;  notice 
to  Russia,  Manchuria,  214; 
now  discredits  China's  influence, 
207;  offers  an  emperor  to 
China,  157;  owes  everything 
to  China,  208;  pottery,  209; 
since  1872,  210;  suspicious 
of  American  friendliness  for 
China,  2. 

"Japanese  Education,"  Kikuchi, 
263. 


Jernigan,  T.  R.,  237. 
Journalists  encouraged,  edict,  96, 
Jung  Lu,  Manchu  governor,  155. 
Justinian,   Roman   Emperor,   silk 
culture,  6. 

Kan-fu  (Canton?),  sacking  of,  7. 

Kang  Tu- Wei,  reform  leader,  91. 

Kwang  Hsi,  emperor,  116. 

"Kaotao,"  18,  66. 

Keruilun  river,  117. 

Keshin,  commissioner,  129;  Hong- 
kong treaty,  129;  degraded 
and  restored,  131. 

Kikuchi,  D.,  "Japanese  Educa- 
tion," 263. 

Kiying,  Governor-general,  treaty 
commissioner,  173. 

Knox,  Secretary  of  State,  neutral- 
ization of  Manchurian  Rail- 
ways, 2. 

"Kojiki,"  Japanese  compiled 
history,  136. 

Korea,  Japanese  unsuccessful  in- 
vasions, 207,  209,  211. 

Koxinga,  British  treaty  with,  20. 

Kwang  Hsii,  vide  Emperor. 

Kuei  Chun,  155. 

Language,  Chinese,  14,  dialects 
of,  14;  important  in  commerce, 
178. 

Lengfelt,  quoted,  45. 

"Letters  from  a  Chinese  oflScial," 
vide  "Chinese  official." 

Li  Hung  Chang,  statesman  and 
Viceroy,  51,  155. 

Li  Min,  "Black-haired  People," 
Chinese,  114. 

Lin  Tseh-su,  commissioner,  129; 
degraded,  129;  Governor- 
general  of  two  Kwang  provinces, 
128. 

Literary  Essay  abolished,  edict, 
95- 


296 


INDEX 


Liu  Kun-yi,  Viceroy  and.  Grand 

Secretary,  52,  55,  155. 
Loochoo  Islands,  216. 

Macao,  beginning  of  Portuguese 

settlement,  17. 
Macgowan,    Rev.    J.,    "Chinese 

Folk-Lore  Tales,"  49. 
"Mail-Day,"  old-time,  ix. 
Manchu      conquest,     113,     159; 

reigning    dynasty    (Ts'ing)    21, 

119,  156. 
Manchuria,  China's  right  to  full 

autonomy,  5. 
Manchurian    railways,    Japanese 

interference,  222. 
Marco  Polo,  9,  123. 
Marcus   Antoninus,   Roman   em- 
peror, embassy  to  China,  6. 
Massacre   of    Chinese   in   Philip- 
pines,   169;     of    foreigners    at 

Kanfu,  7. 
McCarty,  D.  Bethune,  66. 
Merwin,  Samuel,    "Drugging    a 

Nation,"  35. 
Miaotsz  (aborigines)  114. 
"Middle  Kingdom,  The,"  China, 

12;   the  book,  68. 
Ming  Dynasty,  113,  149. 
Ming-ti,  emperor,   his  dream,   5, 

186;    embassy  sent  to  West,  it 

went  to  India,  5. 
Ministers  of  State  to  assist  reforms, 

edict,  96. 
Mirs  Bay,  Commodore  Dewey  at, 

163. 
Missionary  efifort  in  China,  185, 

187. 

Missionaries,  their  peculiar  privi- 
leges, 168. 

Mongol  (Yuen)  D3Tiasty,  115;  its 
decadence,  119. 

"Mongol  Invasion,"  needless  fear 
of,  242,  247;  "Yellow  Peril" 
differentiated,  250. 


"Monroe  Doctrine,"  China's,  180. 
Motives  of  Americans  and  Euro- 
peans, 34. 

Nanking,  Treaty  of,  64. 
Napier,  Lord,  23. 
"Nationalism,"  204. 
Naval    Academy    and    Training 

Ships,  edict,  96. 
Nestorian  Christians  in  China,  7. 
"New"  Citizens  in  United  States, 

39- 
"New  Great  Japan,"  map  of,  227. 
New-style    hterary    examination, 

194. 
"Nigger,"  bad  use  of  the  word,  58. 
"Nihongi,"  Japan's  made-to-order 

history,  136. 
Ningpo  captured,  130;   treaty  of, 

131- 
Northern  Africa,  conditions  in,  60. 
Northern  Mongols,  156. 

Official  history  in  China,  122. 

Officials  dismissed,  edict,  97. 

"Old  Custom,"  253. 

Oliphant,  Laurence,  "The  Elgin 
Mission,"  30. 

Onon  river,  117. 

Opening  China's  doors,  32. 

Opium,  Anglo-Chinese  Conven- 
tion, May  8,  191 1,  284;  China's 
effort  to  suppress,  271;  edict 
of  1729,  23;  Empress  Dowager's 
crusade,  103;  glimpse  into  an 
opium  province,  274;  history 
in  China,  265;  seized,  128, 
263;  opium  and  alcohol,  275; 
smoking  described,  268;  its  ex- 
travagance 278;  smoking  and 
foot-binding  compared,  284; 
the  "opium  provinces,"  271; 
"The  Ten  Cannots,"  270. 

Pacific  Ocean,  its  importance,  179. 


INDEX 


297 


Panama  Canal,  71. 
Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  25. 
Parliament  in  China,  233,  258. 
Patent  and  Copyright  Law,  edict, 

95- 
Patriarchs,  116. 
Peking  "Gazette,"  93. 
Peking-Hankow    Railway,    edict, 

95- 

Peking,  occupation  of,  66. 

Peking  University,  edict,  94-95. 

P(eninsular)  and  O(riental) 
S(team)  N(avigation)  Com- 
pany, xi. 

Persian  intercourse  with  China,  5. 

Phoenician  intercourse  with 
China,  5. 

Poppy,  cultivation  of,  266. 

Portuguese,  appearance  in  China, 
1516,  10;  reach  Moluccas,  then 
Canton,    estabhsh    "factories," 

IS,  17- 
Postal  Service,   old,  xii;   modern, 

109. 
Press  Bureaus,  Japanese,  223. 
Prince    Chun    (Chung),    Regent, 

51,  155- 
Protestant    Missions    in    China, 

166  et  seq. 
"  Public  Ledger,"  Philadelphia,  2. 
Pim    Tsao,     "Chinese    Herbal," 

264. 
Pwan  Ku,  the  Chinese  Creator, 

143. 

Quarrels  of  Christian  sects  in 
Japan,  216;  of  foreigners  in 
China,  124. 

Railways  in  China,  107. 

Reed,  W.  B.,  American  Minister, 

765- 
Reform,   in   China   began   wrong, 

8g;     of   miUtary   examinations, 

edict,  96. 


Relations,     United     States     and 

China,  since  1898,  169. 
Religion  in  China,  80  et  seq. 
Resum6    of    events    in    China's 

intercourse  with  Europeans,  15 

et  seq. 
Revulsion    in    Chinese    feelings, 

10. 
Rewards  for  inventors  and  authors, 

edict,  96. 
Richard,  Dr.  Timothy,  assistance 

in  education,  206. 
Right  to  memorialize  the  Throne, 

edict,  97. 
Roman  Catholic  Missionaries  in 

China,  187. 
Roman  emperors,  Justinian   and 

Marcus  Antoninus,  6. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  quoted,  70. 
Rubruquis,  missionary,  123. 
Russia,  conditions  in,  59. 
Russians,    appearance    in    China, 

1658,  10. 

Sang  (wild)  Miaotsz,  114. 

Satow,  Sir  Ernest,  foot-binding 
and  opium-smoking,  284. 

School  boards,  edict,  96. 

Schools  at  Chinese  Legations, 
edict,  96. 

Sea-frontage  on  Pacific,  70. 

Selby,  Rev.  T.  G.,  quoted,  267. 

Seward,  Wm.  H.,  quoted,  70. 

Shanghai  entered  by  British- 
French  forces,  131. 

Shroff,  X,  xiv,  176. 

Shinto  (Japanese)  adapted  Con- 
fucianism, 208. 

Shuh  (subdued)  Miaotsz,  114. 

Silk-culture  schools,  edict,  98. 

Smith,  A.  H.,  "  China  and  America 
To-day,"  14. 

Soothill,  W.  E.,  "The  Educational 
Conquest  of  China,"  263. 

South  Africa,  conditions  in,  6. 


298 


INDEX 


Spaniards,  appearance  in  China, 
1575)  10;  intercourse  with 
Chinese,  17;  massacres  of 
Chinese  at  Manila,  161. 

Spread  of  desire  for  Western 
learning,  203. 

Swatow,  why  opened,  xiii. 

Syrian  intercourse  with  China,  5. 

"Taeping"  Rebellion,  25,  132. 
Taft,  William  H.,  quoted,  73,  74. 
Taiko    Sama    (Hideyoshi),    inva- 
sion of  Korea,  209. 
"Taipan,"  69. 
T'ai    TsU,    emperor,    founder    of 

Ming  Dynasty,  149. 
Tao  Kwang,  emperor,  64,  132. 
Taoism,  85. 

Tatnall,  Commodore,  66. 
"Tea,"    corruption     of     Chinese 

"Cha,"     6;      introduced    from 

India     a.d.     315;     Cultivation 

Schools,  edict,  98. 
Telegraphic  communication  with 

China,  xi. 
Tien-teh,  "Taeping"  leader,  132. 
Tong  Hsia-i,  opium  reformer,  56. 
Trade,  China  and  Philippines,  i6i; 

general  suggestions,  174. 
Treaty,      how      considered      by 

Chinese,   31;     Burlingame,    72; 

Nanking,     64;      Ningpo,     131; 

Wanghia,  65;    revision  of,  257. 
"True"  Americans,  39. 
Ts'in  (Ch'in)  Land  of,  China,  11. 
Tuan    Fang,    Prince,  Statesman, 


155;  "clear  out  the  foreigners!" 
193- 

United  States,  enters  Far  Eastern 
arena,  158;  feeling  in,  S7;  first 
intercourse  with  China,  61. 

Useless  Boards  abolished,  edict,  97. 

Verbeck,  Dr.,  a  pioneer  in  Japan- 
ese education,  263. 
Viceroy  of  Canton,  letters  to,  19. 

Wall  of  China,  The  Great,  112. 

Wang  Wen-shao,  Viceroy  and 
Grand  Secretary,  52. 

Wanghia,  Treaty  of,  65. 

Ward,  J.  E.,  American  Minister,  66. 

Wars,  European-Chinese,  63. 

Weng,  Customs  interpreter, 
quoted,  41. 

Western  Europeans'  ignorance  of 
China,  9. 

Whampao  Forts  fire  on  British,  19. 

"Wonderful  Man,  The,"  folk- 
lore tale,  49. 

Wu  Sung-yan  (How-qua),  Canton 
merchant,  33. 

Wu  Ting  Fang,  diplomat,  55. 

"Yellow  Peril,"  77,  119,  250. 

Yih-king,  "  Book  of  Records,"  136. 

Yuan  Shih-kai,  Viceroy  and 
General,  51,  54,  155;  list  of 
educational  institutions,  201  et 
seq. 

Yule,  Colonel,  123. 


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